Seattle City Councilmember Bob Kettle released a detailed timeline Tuesday documenting his communications and actions during the first hours after the deadly July 26 shooting at the Bite of Seattle, one day after calling for a broader review of the city’s handling of the incident.
Kettle, who represents District 7, which includes Seattle Center, and chairs the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, said the timeline is based on his direct experience that evening and is intended to provide transparency as city leaders examine the response to a shooting that left three people dead and four others wounded.
The release adds Kettle’s account to the public record as he presses Mayor Katie B. Wilson’s administration for a procedural review that he says should go beyond the expected after-action report and examine lessons at both the operational and strategic levels.
“After receiving a call about the mass shooting from Deputy Mayor Brian Surratt, I immediately went to Seattle Center. I did so, given my role as Chair of the Public Safety Committee and the City Council representative for District 7, in which Seattle Center is located. During the approximately three hours that I was on site, I communicated with the Seattle Police Department, Deputy Mayor Surratt, Director of Public Safety Alison Holcomb, and different members of the Seattle City Council,” Kettle said.
“This timeline is submitted for transparency, and to provide a baseline for observations of the events of that evening, based on how I directly experienced them.”
According to Kettle’s timeline, preliminary reports of gunfire reached Seattle police at approximately 6 p.m. Kettle said he began receiving multiple notifications from the community at 6:10 p.m.
Seattle police posted publicly at 6:29 p.m. that officers were investigating a shooting at Seattle Center.
Kettle’s office staff began texting him at 6:38 p.m., according to his timeline. At 7:05 p.m., he received a call from Surratt, followed by a call from Councilmember Dan Strauss four minutes later.
Kettle said he attempted to reach Council President Joy Hollingsworth at 7:18 p.m. and spoke with Councilmember Dionne Foster at 7:19 p.m.
He arrived at Seattle Center at approximately 7:20 p.m., according to the timeline.
That arrival time should not be confused with the emergency response to the shooting. Seattle police said officers already working at the Bite of Seattle heard the gunfire and responded within seconds, providing emergency aid while other officers searched for those responsible.
Ten minutes after his arrival, Kettle sent the first of several group messages intended to keep fellow council members informed.
“Currently on campus. Still an active situation. Will follow up. Please do not reply all,” he wrote at 7:30 p.m.
The messages provide a window into how information was moving among elected officials while police and other emergency personnel were responding to the shooting. Kettle repeatedly instructed council members not to respond to the group thread, using it as a one-way channel for updates from the scene.
At 7:58 p.m., Kettle texted Public Safety Director Alison Holcomb that he was with the deputy mayor and had been briefed.
“Currently with DM; have been in-briefed,” Kettle wrote.
“Lots of incoming, more to come,” Holcomb responded.
“Push what you can. Thank you,” Kettle replied.
At 8:05 p.m., Kettle texted Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes.
“Currently on station at the command center with DM,” Kettle wrote.
“I was informed. Working on a conference call,” Barnes responded, according to the timeline.
Three minutes later, Kettle sent another group message to council members.
“Will receive update at 2100. Again please do not reply. This will be a one-way comms text thread.”
One of the more notable sequences in Kettle’s timeline occurred shortly before 9 p.m., when information about the shooting and the city’s public response was still developing.
At 8:50 p.m., Kettle said he received a text from Surratt containing a statement from Wilson and “highlighted error immediately in response.”
The timeline does not identify the error, what information Kettle believed was incorrect or how he determined it was wrong.
One minute later, Kettle forwarded Wilson’s statement to the council and told members it was being amended.
“Statement is being amended. One suspect apprehended. Trying to determine on possible second suspect. Suspect apprehended is 15 year old male. Now three deceased. Do not reply all. Thank you,” Kettle wrote.
The sequence provides a glimpse into how rapidly changing information was being shared among city officials as authorities worked to determine the number of victims and people involved in the shooting.
At 8:57 p.m., Kettle joined a 26-minute Teams call involving officials from multiple levels of government.
According to his timeline, participants included U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Gov. Bob Ferguson, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, Wilson, Council President Joy Hollingsworth, Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins, Barnes and Seattle police Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis.
The participation of city, county, state and federal officials reflected the scale of the response as information about the shooting continued to develop.
Kettle said he missed a 9:41 p.m. call from a chief of staff before leaving Seattle Center at approximately 10:05 p.m.
Surratt called him at 10:13 p.m. and invited him to participate in a news conference, according to the timeline. Kettle declined.
Seattle police held a news conference at approximately 10:50 p.m.
The shooting occurred outside the Seattle Center Armory during the Bite of Seattle food festival. Seattle police said seven people were struck by gunfire. Three people — a 19-year-old man, a 44-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman — died. Four others, including a toddler, were hospitalized.
Police said officers assigned to the festival heard the gunfire and responded within seconds, providing emergency aid while other officers searched for those responsible.
Kettle’s release Tuesday followed a separate action Monday in which he sent Wilson a letter calling for her administration to collaborate with the council on a procedural review of the city’s response.
The timing links two related but distinct actions: Kettle first called for a broader examination of the response and then publicly documented his own experience during the first hours after the shooting.
Kettle has not characterized his timeline as a comprehensive account of the city’s response. Rather, he described it as a baseline based on what he personally experienced.
His timeline documents when information reached him, when he arrived at Seattle Center, who he communicated with and what information he relayed to other council members. It does not establish when other city officials first received information or provide a complete chronology of decisions made by police, the mayor’s office or other agencies that evening.
Kettle said his request for a procedural review is intended to examine both the immediate response and broader lessons from the incident.
“The tragedy that recently unfolded during the Bite of Seattle at Seattle Center on July 26 has underscored the need for a procedural review — beyond the expected ‘After-Action Report,’” Kettle said. “With three fatalities, several injuries, and the impact on attendees — indeed, the entire city — we need to identify and discuss the lessons learned at both the operational level (immediate response and the ongoing investigation) and the strategic level. Our constituents, the many diverse communities we collectively serve, are entitled to answers.
