Councilmembers say Mayor Katie Wilson asked SPD Chief Shon Barnes to resign

After multiple Seattle City Councilmembers told KOMO News that Mayor Katie Wilson asked Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes to resign Wednesday night, and that the mayor has confirmed to the council that there will be a "transition" in the Chief's office, the mayor's office officially released a statement announcing the resignation Thursday. RELATED | Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announces SPD Chief Shon Barnes’ resignation The mayor is appointing Deputy Chief Andre Sayles as Interim Chief of the Seattle Police Department, the announcement said. "Chief Barnes has served this department and this city with dedication, and I am grateful for his service," said Mayor Wilson. "The courage and professionalism that the officers of the Seattle Police Department showed deserves to be honored. I share Chief Barnes' hope that we can return our focus to addressing youth gun violence and ensuring that every family can feel safe in their neighborhood and across the city." The Downtown Seattle Association released a statement following the Mayor's confirmation: "Seattle had been on a positive course on public safety with police hiring trending up and crime trending down, particularly in the downtown core. It's imperative the next chief of police is able to maintain progress that's been made and instill confidence in our community." - Downtown Seattle Association President & CEO Jon Scholes Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth told KOMO News that Barnes was asked to resign and declined. However, Councilmember Rob Saka said Wilson told him there will be a "transition" in the Chief's office. "It's not a decision I would have made, especially amid a tragedy," Saka said, referencing the mass shooting at Seattle Center on Sunday. "We're still in the middle of a crisis." Neither Wilson's office nor the SPD have formally confirmed Barnes' departure. According to Article VI, Sec 2 of the City Charter, "The Mayor may remove the Chief of Police upon filing a statement of his or her reasons for so doing with the City Council." A group led by Black community leaders rallied earlier the same morning in opposition to Wilson's reported decision. The coalition of organizations, advocates, and clergy members gathered at Seattle City Hall at 8:30 a.m. to demonstrate. The rally for Barnes comes after just over a year on the job and recent scrutiny over his conduct and his ties to the city after a mass shooting at the "Bite of Seattle" on Sunday . The group of organizations included Seattle NAACP, Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, Byrd Barr Place, and Community Passageways, among others. "We are in the heat of the summertime right now. Every summer there is an uptick in violence and you don’t let go of the leader of the law enforcement agency in the midst of summertime and off the back of a mass shooting. it doesn't make sense," said Dominique Davis, the founder and CEO of Community Passageways. "He's been very engaged in the community. He shows up to community events. We can invite him anywhere." Dawn Mason, a former state representative, was among the half dozen people who attended the private meeting with the mayor. She said she couldn’t divulge the specifics of the conversation but did her best to show the mayor that removing the police chief would be a mistake. "You never make a major decision in the midst of grief and right now Seattle is grieving and mourning this great loss," Mason said. "How is she going to hire a new police chief under these circumstances. Who would want to work for the city?" The reported dismissal came just hours after he canceled a planned interview with KOMO News and other Seattle media on Wednesday. About 30 minutes before he was scheduled to answer questions with KOMO’s Chris Daniels about the deadly Seattle Center shooting and the amount of time he had spent outside the city, his office provided portions of his calendar documenting his movements from late March through the end of July. SEE ALSO | Seattle Police Chief cancels interview, acknowledges frequent travel outside city On Wednesday evening, Barnes was seen dropping flowers at the Seattle Center vigil in a full police chief uniform, potentially his last public appearance as chief. WATCH: Seattle Police Chief cancels interview, acknowledges frequent travel outside city A new era seemed to have begun last July when the Seattle Police Department swore in Shon Barnes as Seattle's 38th police chief. Barnes entered the position on the heels of a scandal from former police chief Adrian Diaz, who was accused of having an affair with a colleague. Barnes previously served as police chief in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison has about 280,000 residents and employs about 500 sworn officers. In comparison, Seattle has nearly 800,000 residents and 1,000 officers, as of July 2025. Chosen from a pool of 57 applicants, Barnes, at the time, had identified some of his top goals for the department. He came in to tackle challenges such as hiring, retention, and rebuilding the department's approach to community policing. Barnes also promised quicker response times, stronger patrol presence, and a renewed focus on crime prevention. In November, after months on the job, Barnes opened up about a tragic event that changed his career path during an episode of KOMO's Hard Turn podcast. But all that momentum came to a pause during Sunday’s mass shooting, bringing Barnes’s absence from the scene into the spotlight, amongst other communication failures. Questions persisted Monday over why the public was not told sooner that police were searching for another armed person, even if investigators did not yet know that person's identity or whereabouts. The tension spilled into a sharp exchange between Barnes and Connor Nash of the South Seattle Emerald, who pressed the chief over the delay and the lack of basic information available to the public. Barnes defended the department's focus on securing the scene and searching for the second person. He also acknowledged that the public needs timely information to make decisions about its own safety. "The public has a right to participate in their own public safety," Barnes said. "They can only do that if we get our information out."