Seattle police announce arrest in fatal shooting near Rainier Beach High School

A suspect described by Seattle police as a “male juvenile” has been arrested in connection to a January shooting outside Rainier Beach High School that left two teenage boys dead and a community grieving.

At a news conference announcing the arrest Tuesday, Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes said the suspect was not a student at Rainier Beach High School, but detectives believe there “could have been a relationship” between the suspect and the victims.

“While this arrest cannot bring back the lives that were taken, it represents an important step toward accountability and toward providing these families and our community some measure of closure,” Barnes said. “Gun violence involving young people is one of the most painful challenges any community can face.”

Barnes said the arrest was made outside of Seattle — though he didn’t say where — and authorities still haven’t found the gun used in the shooting. Seattle Police Department officials shared few details about the arrest or investigation, citing the suspect's age.

“There’s still a lot more work to be done,” Barnes said.

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The arrest comes nearly two months after Rainier Beach High School students Tyjon Stewart, 18, and Traveiah Houfmuse, 17, were shot and killed at a bus stop at Rainier Avenue South and South Henderson Street as school was letting out for the day. Officers who first responded to the incident on Jan. 30 provided medical treatment to the teenage boys until the Seattle Fire Department arrived. SFD pronounced them dead at the scene.

Police previously said they believe Stewart and Houfmuse were “directly targeted” by the gunman, who shot them while exiting a King County Metro bus, then fled the area on foot. Authorities searched the area but did not find a suspect that day.

Deputy Police Chief Andre Sayles said detectives on the department’s homicide unit have “correctly worked endless hours on this investigation,” gathering and processing digital and forensic evidence and building the case with the King County Prosecutor’s Office.

“Although the investigation seemed to take a long time, it never lost momentum on the Seattle Police Department,” Sayles said. “It never went cold — and the detectives would not let it go cold.”

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Barnes said he hopes this case can be a call to action for the entire community — SPD included — to help prevent more gun violence, especially among youth.

“Each of these losses is profound,” Barnes said. “Each represents a future that can never be fully realized, and each should force us to confront the urgent need to protect our youth from the cycles of violence that continue to claim them.”

“We must all work in a sustained and coordinated effort to keep our young people safe,” he added.

For SPD’s part, Barnes said he’s assigned dedicated officers to patrol the Rainier Beach High School area before, during, and after school through the rest of the academic year.

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson also pledged to do her part to prevent gun violence. Although the work starts in neighborhoods with families, schools, churches, and community organizations, Wilson said it also requires support from government partners, including the city.

“Gun violence has taken too many young people from us, leaving behind grieving families and scarred communities,” Wilson said. “Our kids deserve to know that they are safe in and around school. Families deserve to know that their kids will come home safe at the end of the school day, and it’s our responsibility to help make that a reality.”