Seattle police chief resigns days after food festival shooting

A reason for Chief Shon Barnes’ resignation wasn’t disclosed. There have been questions this week over the release of information about the shooting Sunday, which killed two bystanders.

Seattle’s police chief resigned Thursday after days of questions about the release of information following a shooting at a food festival that left three people dead, including two bystanders.

Mayor Katie Wilson accepted a letter of resignation from Police Chief Shon Barnes, she said in a statement released by the police department. The statement does not say why Barnes resigned.

Wilson told NBC affiliate KING of Seattle that “multiple factors” led to the change.

“I’ll say that this decision was not solely due to the events of Sunday,” she told the station. “Multiple factors figured into this decision and into the conversation that the chief and I had.”

Barnes, whom the previous mayor appointed to head the department in 2024, was questioned along with Wilson about initial reports that two suspects had been arrested after Sunday’s violence at the Bite of Seattle event, when only one had been arrested.