Close to 100 Attend Virtual Meeting on Student Safety in Rainier Beach

Less than a month after a shooting took the lives of two teens in Rainier Beach, dozens of community members gathered virtually to discuss student safety.

Principals at Rainier Beach High School, South Shore K-8, Alan T. Sugiyama High School, and Interagency High School hosted the virtual meeting on Feb. 24. The group, which calls itself Southeast Principals, brought in city leaders to present their plans for improved school security, bus-stop safety, and grief programing after the Jan. 30 deaths of Tyjon Malik Stewart, 18, and Tra'Veiah Houfmuse, 17.

About 90 attendees — including parents, principals, school staff, and other community members — participated in the two-hour meeting.

"The folks of the community really responded to this incident, and it shows what we can do when we're working together," Paul Patu of Urban Family said during the meeting.

On Jan. 30, after Rainier Beach High School let out, Stewart and Houfmuse were shot and killed at a nearby bus stop. Soon after, students at the school and over 100 community members gathered for a vigil and created a memorial at the bus stop to honor Stewart and Houfmuse.

Heidi Tuttle, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) South Precinct captain, kicked off the meeting and spoke about short-term and long-term plans as part of the Rainier Beach gun violence initiative. Tuttle said officers will have a more "visible presence" around campuses, including a new traffic patrol focused on arrival and dismissal times. The department also plans to appoint a detective liaison position specializing in the "highest-risk youth and groups in Rainier Beach," according to an information packet.

During the meeting, Tuttle expressed a desire to strengthen relationships with Seattle Public Schools (SPS) security teams, community organizations, and local businesses.

"This is an even greater opportunity for me to take the time to really collaborate with people's relationships in honor of these two young men," Tuttle said.

The bus stop near the intersection of South Henderson Street and Rainier Avenue South, where the shooting occurred, has been closed for the month of February, according to King County Metro Safety Officer Maria Jimenez-Zepeda. Transit officers have been patrolling the King County Metro stop since Feb. 4, during peak arrival and dismissal time. The bus stop is scheduled to reopen the first week of March.

Jimenez-Zepeda also stated city officials are working to preserve the community-made memorial that currently sits at the stop.

During the meeting, multiple attendees brought up the idea of creating a memorial on school grounds for students to grieve.

"It's a horrible feeling to have lost somebody, and there's no place to see that they existed," a parent said. "These boys were particularly special, so not having something at the school has a grave impact going forward."

Crystal Alexander, Southeast Seattle branch co-director of Community Passageways, says the organization provided grief support at Rainier Beach High School for two weeks after the shooting. Moving forward, organization members plan to increase their presence before and after school for students who use the light rail, as well as activate programming for youth healing and safety, Alexander says.

Along with grief counseling, the youth-empowerment organization provides a range of services in deescalation, crisis intervention, and family and mental-health support.

"Our community is grieving, but we're standing together," Alexander said.

Southeast Principals plan to host more public safety meetings in the coming weeks. 

"[Community] is about unity, it's about what we have in common, it's about what we share," Marni Campbell, assistant superintendent, said. "It's about communication, it's about community. All of those things are what the community is about."

On Feb. 25, the day after the meeting, two teens were arrested for a shooting in the residential area between Franklin High School and John Muir Elementary School. While police officers searched for the suspects, Franklin was placed under lockdown, and John Muir enacted a shelter-in-place order. No injuries were reported.

Upcoming Event: Rainier Beach Action Coalition will host an in-person public safety town hall on Friday, March 6, 5–8 p.m., at the Ethiopian Community in Seattle, 8323 Rainier Ave. S., Suite A.