‘I don’t know who is in charge’: Absent police chief exposed command breakdown during Seattle mass shooting

The July 26 shooting at Seattle Center left three people dead and several others wounded.

“I don’t know who is in charge, but someone needs to assume command and slow down then follow active shooter protocols,” then-Police Chief Shon Barnes wrote at 6:50 pm, according to the records released Wednesday by SPD.

Barnes was out of town at a conference and was living in Chicago at the time.

Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis responded one minute later: “I am in charge and Alison is point with MOS. We will handle it for now.” The apparent reference was to Mayor’s Office Public Safety Director Alison Holcomb.

The exchange followed an earlier update from Davis reporting seven people shot, two dead, and one of two suspects in custody.

“Differing accounts of whether is gang-related or terrorist related,” Davis wrote at 6:36 pm. “1 of 2 suspects are in custody. I am headed in. Please give us time to get more info.”

The released records show that the possibility of additional suspects remained active hours later.

At 8:23 pm, Assistant Chief Nicole Powell asked for victim information and “a description of the outstanding suspect.” Five minutes later, SPD official Martin Rivera responded: “Not much on outstanding suspect. Maybe Arab male?”

The tentative description was not released to the public. No suspect description has been given out in the nearly two months since the shooting. Authorities have not even confirmed that there are suspects at large, even though several firearms are missing from the crime scene.

The FBI was also mobilizing to help locate the outstanding suspect. Messages show federal personnel assigning analysts to review social media, preparing to run identifying information and making contact with SPD investigators at the scene. Powell separately asked the FBI’s Seattle leadership to search social media for videos.

Those private efforts conflict with proposed public talking points stating there was “no information to indicate there is a threat to the public.” Investigators were simultaneously trying to identify and locate another person believed to have been involved in the gunfire.

By 9:13 pm, Powell wrote internally, “So this is gang related beef,” indicating that investigators had moved toward a gang-related theory. Once again, that information was not released to the public.

The new SPD messages also show that a planned media availability was delayed for Wilson and corroborate previously released Mayor’s Office records indicating that officials also waited for Ferguson.

At 9:36 pm, Holcomb asked whether SPD was conducting a media availability and said Wilson “needs to be there.” She was told it was scheduled for 9:45 pm.

Two minutes later, Holcomb wrote: “Where, and how does Mayor join? I’ve been keeping her away from the scene and HMC, but I don’t want media thinking she’s absent. She wants to know where to be.”

At 9:42 pm, three minutes before the scheduled briefing, Holcomb issued the direct instruction: “Mayor’s on her way. Please wait for her.”

The exchange shows that concern over the appearance of an absent mayor directly preceded the order to hold the media availability for Wilson.

Messages previously released by Wilson’s office show that the mayor shared that concern. “I am sure KOMO would love to spin the absent mayor story,” Wilson wrote after a reporter called her.

At 10:24 pm, SPD Chief Operating Officer Sarah Smith texted Public Information Officer Brian Pritchard: “Chief just texted me saying that the media availability didn’t happen?” The message indicates Barnes himself was surprised that the scheduled appearance had not occurred.

The new SPD records also document how late Ferguson arrived. At 10:37 pm, 52 minutes after the media availability was supposed to begin—SPD official Christopher Gregorio texted Lt. Sage Farwell: “The governor is just parking and getting ready to walk in.”

That message corroborates the earlier Mayor’s Office records showing staff telling increasingly impatient reporters that officials were waiting for “Jayapal and Gov,” referring to Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Ferguson. The public briefing did not begin until shortly before 11 pm, hours after the shooting and more than an hour after the planned 9:45 availability.

The communications plan was carefully controlled. Smith wrote that Wilson would speak first with “high level comments,” Davis would give the incident briefing and then take “minimal questions.” The appearance, she added, “should be short and focused only on key critical details.”

The result was a striking divide between the private response and the public one. Behind the scenes, officials were struggling to establish command, considering terrorism and gang violence, working with the FBI and searching for an outstanding suspect. In public, Seattle residents waited hours for an official briefing—one delayed first for Wilson and then as Ferguson and other political figures arrived to appear before the cameras.

SPD acknowledged that the release remains incomplete. The department said it is still waiting for Barnes’ own text messages to be recovered and prepared for publication.