Man in wheelchair shot in broad daylight near Seattle’s new Waterfront less than a week after it opened

Less than a week after city leaders celebrated the opening of Seattle’s revitalized Downtown Waterfront, a broad daylight shooting has shaken the area and renewed questions about public safety in the heart of the city’s tourist district.

At around 4:10 pm Thursday, Seattle police responded to reports of a shooting in the 900 block of Alaskan Way, just steps from the newly reopened Pier 58. When officers arrived, they found a 68-year-old man in a wheelchair suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. The Seattle Fire Department provided emergency medical aid and transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center, where he remains in serious but stable condition.

Witnesses told police the shooting followed a verbal altercation between the suspect and the victim, who became upset when the suspect allegedly took one of his belongings. Still seated in his wheelchair, the victim reportedly brandished a knife and motioned toward the man, who responded by opening fire.

Two nearby Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officers intervened and detained the suspect before Seattle police arrived. The suspect was later transported to SPD headquarters and interviewed by detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit. He has been booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault.

The shooting occurred near the newly unveiled Pier 58, part of a $750 million overhaul of Seattle’s Downtown Waterfront. The 20-acre transformation includes a jellyfish-themed playground, tree groves, elevated lawns, public art, and the restored Waterfront Fountain. Part of the new project opened last Friday, but the full grand opening of the redeveloped waterfront is scheduled for September 6.

The celebration came amid a wave of troubling trends for Seattle’s downtown core. Over the past several years, major retailers, including Nike, Target, and the Hard Rock Café, have closed their downtown locations. Amazon Go also shuttered its flagship stores due to chronic underperformance. Even smaller businesses have joined the exodus, citing rampant crime, open-air drug use, and a lack of law enforcement presence as key reasons for pulling out.

Seattle’s police department remains critically understaffed. Fewer than 850 officers are currently available for emergency response or investigations, well below the city’s minimum staffing needs. Alarmingly, nearly 280 of those officers are eligible for retirement, putting further strain on an already overwhelmed force.

SPD is operating below minimum staffing levels on every shift, in every precinct. The roots of the crisis trace back to 2020, when, following the death of George Floyd, widespread protests erupted in Seattle. In response, the Seattle City Council embraced a "defund the police" agenda, slashing department budgets in favor of expanding social services. During one of those council votes, a city social worker was fatally stabbed by her homeless client, underscoring the limits of relying solely on non-police interventions in volatile situations.

In the years that followed, more than 700 officers left the department. Violent crime surged, and homicide rates shattered previous records. Today, SPD is operating with fewer officers than it had in the 1950s, despite a city population that has more than doubled since then.

In April 2025, the City Council formally reversed course, voting to refund the police and acknowledging that the defund initiative had failed.