Voicemail confirms Seattle mayor’s aide told police to delay Bite of Seattle shooting briefing despite Wilson’s denial

The recording captures Public Safety Director Alison Holcomb contacting SPD Detective Brian Pritchard, who was handling public information at the scene, and asking him to hold the scheduled 9:45 pm media appearance. “So, if you could please hold on the 9:45 availability until the mayor is able to join you, that would be great,” Holcomb said.

KIRO Newsradio obtained the voicemail through a public disclosure request. It provides recorded confirmation that a senior mayoral aide asked police to postpone the briefing for Wilson.

The disclosure follows Wilson’s October 5 denial that Deputy Mayor Brian Surratt instructed police to wait for her. “My deputy mayor did not do that,” Wilson said at a public press event. She pointed to the Office of Inspector General’s investigation and questioned relying on “people’s memories.”

But the evidence challenging her administration’s account now includes a recorded request from her public safety director, text messages, and testimony from the officer serving as acting police chief.

Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis told the City Council’s Public Safety Committee that police were ready to address reporters around 7:30 pm, approximately 90 minutes after the July 26 shooting.

Davis said he notified Surratt as a courtesy before heading to the briefing.

“I was told we needed to wait for the Mayor,” Davis testified. He said he proposed briefing reporters immediately and holding another appearance when Wilson arrived but was again told to wait. The information he eventually provided around 11 pm, Davis said, was the same information he could have delivered hours earlier.

The voicemail concerns a later scheduled briefing, corroborating previously released texts showing Holcomb telling police at 9:42 pm: “Mayor’s on her way. Please wait for her.”

At approximately 9:57 pm, Surratt wrote: “Waiting on Gov and Jayapal,” referring to Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and Rep. Pramila Jayapal.

Internal police communications independently described the delays. When then-Chief Shon Barnes asked why the press conference had not occurred, SPD Chief Operating Officer Sarah Smith replied: “They were delayed because they were waiting for the mayor to arrive.”

Smith subsequently reported that officials were waiting for the governor. Another police message at 10:37 pm indicated Ferguson was parking and preparing to enter. Wilson previously acknowledged her office’s responsibility for the final delay, approximately 9:45 to 10:45 pm. Davis’s testimony places Surratt’s intervention more than two hours earlier—the allegation Wilson later denied.

The administration’s earlier internal messages also showed aides debating when and where Wilson should appear, while the mayor expressed concern about coverage portraying her as absent.

SPD’s after-action report identified a roughly five-hour gap before the first public briefing and found that senior and elected officials distracted officers from providing timely public information and making decisions at the scene. Three people were killed and four wounded in the shooting.