Seattle residents have erected barricades on side streets in their neighborhood to curb traffic and violence linked to rival prostitution rings.
The residents positioned metal planters loaded with dirt and gravel at the entrances of North 97th, 98th and 102nd streets that connect to the main drag of Aurora Avenue North after shootings rattled the Greenwood suburb.
“For more than three years, many of us have been engaging almost daily with city officials, law enforcement, Seattle Department of Transportation, and other local agencies to find both immediate and long-term solutions,” reads a letter attached to one of the planters. “Homes have been hit by gunfire, narrowly missing children. Our military veterans, thinking they’d found a peaceful neighborhood, are now suffering from PTSD.”
Police said one of those shootings happened early Saturday, when at least 40 rounds were exchanged between two groups of people firing at each other by Aurora Avenue and North 98th Street.
Authorities said no one was injured in the shooting, but several buildings in the area were struck by gunfire.
Rudy Pantoja, who manages a shopping center near where the shootout erupted, described the scene as “urban warfare.”
“Until the mayor and our city attorney comes up with a plan that is of action versus words, then this will continue to happen through the summer,” Mr. Pantoja told Seattle’s KING-TV.
A week earlier, police said a stray bullet hit a home at the corner of North 98th Street and Linden Avenue North, whizzing past a sleeping 6-week-old infant.
The homeowner, who only identified himself as Jake, said his surveillance cameras captured some men shooting at an SUV driving through the area on May 18.
“I could have lost my 6-week-old beautiful baby boy,” Jake told KIRO-TV, another Seattle station. “I haven’t — I can’t — I’m unwilling to process that.”
Police have not arrested anyone in connection with either shooting, but Aurora Avenue has turned into a hotbed of criminality tied to the city’s prostitution scene.
Last year, Seattle officials ordered the Oaktree Motel shut down after they received 43 calls to the establishment since 2024.
Police said officers responded to shootings, deadly overdoses, attacks by motel staff on their guests, and prostitution transactions that devolved into sexual assaults and thefts during that period.
In December, city officials also ordered the closure of a strip club that was involved in human trafficking and was serving alcohol to underage people.
The explosion in prostitution on Aurora Avenue, in which scantily clad women can be seen soliciting customers in broad daylight, comes after the elected officials overturned its loitering laws targeting prostitutes in 2020.
Seattle leaders said gangs soon began vying for control of the illicit industry and frequently confront each other in brazen turf disputes in the northern part of town.
The Seattle mayor’s office told KIRO News radio that it’s sending more patrols to Aurora Avenue during overnight hours to try and cut down on the violent spasms.
