King County Gun Deaths Fall to Decade Low

King County’s first-quarter gun-violence numbers fell to their lowest levels in years, according to a quarterly report released this month by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The report counted nine fatal shooting victims in the first three months of 2026, the first single-digit first quarter since 2017. (seattleweekly.com) It also recorded 42 non-fatal shooting victims and 204 shots-fired incidents across the county. The data was compiled from reports submitted by police agencies around King County and excludes suicides, officer-involved shootings and confirmed self-defense cases. (b-townblog.com) The decline extends a trend that county officials have said began in 2024 after gun violence rose through the pandemic-era years and peaked in 2023. (kingcounty.gov) First-quarter fatal shooting victims were down 61% from the recent first-quarter high of 26 in 2023, according to the prosecutor’s office data. Total shots-fired incidents were down 28% from the same period in 2025 and 54% from the first quarter of 2024. ### How low were the numbers in the first three months of 2026? The prosecutor’s office counted 9 fatal shooting victims, 42 non-fatal shooting victims and 204 shots-fired incidents in the first quarter of 2026. The report said that was the lowest first-quarter total for overall shots-fired incidents since 2020 and the first time first-quarter fatal shootings were in single digits since 2017. (b-townblog.com) KOMO, citing the same county report, said the first-quarter totals for shootings and victims had reached their lowest levels in years. The report’s historical chart shows first-quarter fatal victims at 21 in 2022, 23 in 2023, 22 in 2024, 13 in 2025 and 9 in 2026. (b-townblog.com) ### Where were the shootings happening? The first-quarter report said 49% of overall shots-fired incidents took place in the Seattle area and 44% occurred in south King County. KOMO reported that both areas posted substantial declines from 2024, with shootings down 47% in Seattle and 61% in the southern part of the county. (b-townblog.com) The data in the report came from Auburn, Bellevue, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Kirkland, the King County Sheriff’s Office, Renton, Seattle, Tukwila and the Washington State Patrol. The prosecutor’s office says it works with all 39 law-enforcement agencies in the county on its broader gun-violence analysis, though individual quarterly summaries may rely on the agencies that submitted data for that period. (komonews.com) ### Who is still most affected by the violence? The first-quarter report said 67% of the 51 shooting victims were identified as Black or African American, 84% were identified as male, and a majority were between 18 and 39 years old. The report added that Black or African American males remained the majority of shooting victims, even as the overall number of victims continued to decrease. (b-townblog.com) The prosecutor’s office also said the demographic figures rely on law-enforcement reporting and may not fully reflect the community’s demographics because agencies use different systems and policies for collecting race and ethnicity data. Even with that caveat, the county’s published data and local coverage both described the disparity as persistent. (b-townblog.com) ### What do officials say is driving the decline? King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said in comments reported by local outlets that the county had made “unmistakable progress” in reducing gun violence. Gary Ernsdorff, a senior deputy prosecutor in the office, told KIRO 7 that part of the strategy has been to intervene earlier by prosecuting shots-fired cases before they escalate into killings or serious injuries. (b-townblog.com) Dominique Davis, founder and chief executive of Community Passageways, told KIRO 7 the decline reflected years of work by community groups that coordinate services for people at risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of shootings. Davis also said funding cuts and budget shortfalls could threaten that work. (b-townblog.com) ### What should readers watch next? The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office says its gun-violence reports are published quarterly on its public data page. The office says each successive report reflects the most accurate data available at the time of release and may revise earlier counts as investigations develop. (ilovekent.net) The next update will come in the county’s second-quarter report, which will show whether the decline in fatalities, injuries and shots-fired incidents continued past March 31. King County’s public gun-violence data page is where the office posts those quarterly reports. (kingcounty.gov) (kiro7.com)