The 15-year-old arrested at the Bite of Seattle shooting will stay locked up in the county’s juvenile detention center, after being there for over a month.
Ultimately, Judge Veronica Galván decided that the teen should remain at the detention center because he is accused of firing a gun into a crowd of people, and remains “a threat to community safety.”
“It’s not a no, just not yet,” Galván told the teen’s father.
A representative for one of the injured victims spoke via video conference, saying they objected to the defendant being released.
According to charging documents, the defendant was standing near Junior Niko-Semo, the 19-year old who was killed at the festival, at the time the first shots were fired.
Witnesses told police that the 15-year-old defendant pulled a firearm from a pouch and shot in the direction of the shots.
When he was arrested, he told officers, “I was getting shot at” and that he shot back in self-defense, according to court documents.
Law enforcement has confirmed that the gun the teen was carrying at the time of his arrest does not match the bullets removed from the three people killed, according to court documents.
3 Comments
scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech · 8 pts · 1d
I'm sorry why did a 15 year old child have a gun at an event in the first place?
Hard doubt there. Your son had a gun. You already proved yourself as not the most watchful parent.
velma@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 1d
I'm still shocked that Washington State dictates that minors have to be convicted 5 times for firearm possession before they can be detained longer than 30 days.
That is why minors are used to carry guns in a lot of instances. Because they are allowed back on the streets almost immediately.
neuracnu@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 1d
I'm less sure about that. In the USA, in 2026, a sufficiently-motivated 15-year-old can get a gun if they want one whether their parents want them to have it or not.
Sure, the parents probably deserve some blame for having raised a 15-year-old who wants a gun to carry around a food-tasting carnival, but I'd aim a more critical eye to the environment we've created that 1) encourages that desire in the first place, and 2) facilitates its fulfillment.