Seattle 14-year-old boy killed after being hit by monorail while vandalizing building with graffiti

A 14-year-old boy was hit and killed by the Seattle Monorail while he was vandalizing a building with graffiti Sunday night.

According to the Seattle Police Department, officers responded shortly before 9:00 pm to reports of a person struck by the monorail near the intersection of 5th Avenue and Denny Way.



When officers arrived, they found the 14-year-old unresponsive and though the Seattle Fire Department personnel attempted life-saving measures, he succumbed to his injuries. 

Officers reviewed video footage of the incident and discovered that the teen was spray painting a building adjacent to the tracks prior to being struck.

The monorail runs along Fifth Avenue between The Seattle Center where the Space Needle is located and Westlake Center in downtown Seattle. The monorail remained closed for the remainder of the evening but reopened Monday morning.

According to the Monorail’s website, the elevated track is 30 feet off the ground at its highest points.

KOMO News reported that the “…building's exterior brick wall along 5th Avenue is covered in graffiti and there is some on the building's rooftop.”

The outlet noted that some of the graffiti-covered a section of the monorail's concrete guideway, and tracks were spray painted in several places as well. Additionally, there are also multiple warning signs on the roof cautioning people to stay away from the monorail.

Later in the morning, workers discovered a backpack in the corner of the rooftop near where the teen was located prior to being hit and turned it over to police, KOMO reported.

Seattle Police and the King County Medical Examiner are investigating the incident.

Seattle city council member and current candidate for King County Council Teresa Mosqueda previously cited citing Urban Artworks project director Paul Nunn in calling graffiti vandalism art and “unsolicited creative expression.” The anti-police and pro Antifa activist quoted him in her talking point that Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s planned abatement of the vandalism is benefiting the “for-profit graffiti removal businesses.” The activist council member also opposes pressing charges against prolific taggers.

In June, US District Court Judge Marcha Pechman issued an injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing its anti-graffiti ban in response to a lawsuit by activists who were arrested in 2021 for writing “BLM,” and anti-cop expletives such as "F*ck the police" on walls that had been erected to protect the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct from vandalism and rioters.

Fox News contributor Elizabeth Economou wrote of The Emerald City, "Defaced public and private property can be seen everywhere — storefronts, apartment buildings, commercial vehicles, highways, bridges, street signs, and recycling bins all bear the urban scrawl." 

"Nothing is spared. Everything appears to be fair game, including magazine display racks, utility poles — even historic sites. Taggers, apparently, do not discriminate."