The number of shots fired and homicides, injuries and property damage from firearms in King County took dramatic drops through the third quarter of 2025 compared to third-quarter highs over the previous several years.
The overall shots fired incidents (292) were the lowest since the third quarter of 2019 and down 42% from a high of 501 in 2023, according to a report released Nov. 25 by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Shots that resulted in homicide fell 48.4% from a high of 31 in 2021 to 16 so far in 2025. Shots that resulted in injury decreased 47.7% from a high of 109 in 2021 to 57 in 2025. Shots that caused property damage dropped 44% from a high of 152 in 2023 to 85 in 2025.
Shots fired that didn’t hit anyone or anything dropped 43% from a high of 235 in 2022 to 134 in 2025. The number of shots fired, homicides, injuries and property damage totaled 292 in the third quarter in 2025.
Seattle and South King County – typically where the majority of shooting calls are reported – had the lowest number of total shots-fired incidents seen since prior to the third quarter of 2021, with South King County experiencing a 59% decrease (270 shots in 2021 to 110 in 2025) during a quarter that traditionally sees a large spike in the number of shots fired incidents, according to the report.
“The decrease in shootings shows that sustained partnerships between prosecutors, law enforcement, local government and our community, can help reduce gun violence,” said King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion. “These reports aren’t just numbers — each shooting affects real people. King County residents deserve a safe community, and this is the time to double down on our efforts to make that happen.”
Manion liked seeing the drop in South King County numbers.
“When we look to South King County, we see a 59% reduction in overall shots fired,” she said. “That’s impressive. But that doesn’t mean that we’re done. It means that the work that we’re doing with the Kent Police Department, and our community partners – the Latino Civil Alliance and Project Be Free – is having the sort of impact that we want.”
That Kent Police program launched in November 2024 and seeks to combat gun violence through two main goals: 1) solving non-fatal shootings, and 2) identifying and reaching out to the people who the data show are most at risk of becoming gun violence victims or perpetrators.
The organizations regularly meet to share the latest information about specific incidents of gun violence – with a focus on understanding who are the victims and witnesses of gun violence, and who is most at risk for being impacted by gun violence in the future, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Project Be Free and the Latino Civic Alliance are doing direct outreach to people that experience and data suggest are most at risk of becoming a victim of gun violence. Law enforcement and prosecutors work to identify and prosecute perpetrators responsible for gun violence, with a renewed emphasis on solving non-fatal shootings. By solving non-fatal shooting cases, law enforcement and prosecutors are interrupting individuals who may be at risk of continued or even more serious forms of violence.
The data represented is reported to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office directly from participating police agencies in Auburn, Bellevue, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Kirkland, King County Sheriff’s Office, Renton, Seattle, Tukwila and Washington State Patrol. This data does not include suicides or officer-involved shootings.
Shooting demographics
Of the 63 shooting victims (18 fatal, 45 nonfatal) in the third quarter, approximately half were identified as Black or African American, 86% were identified as male, and a majority of victims (32%) were between the ages of 30-39. Another 21% were ages 18-24.
Compared to the third quarter of 2021, there was a 65% decrease in the overall number of shooting victims and a 57% decrease from third quarter of 2023, but Black or African American males remained the majority of shooting victims in the third quarter of the last five years.
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