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Burien To Hold A Town Hall On Community Safety After Fatal Shooting Of Two Teenagers

"Burien Press" by Michael Allen Smith@INeedCoffee is licensed under CC by 2.0 http://bit.ly/2FOfqAB
The City of Burien is hosting a town hall Monday evening on youth engagement and community safety.

Burien is still reeling after the fatal shooting of two teenage girls less than two weeks ago. On Monday evening, Burien city officials will hold a town hall meeting to talk about youth engagement and ways to keep the community safe.

One of the girls was 19. The other was a middle schooler - just 13 years old. They died March 28 after being shot outside an apartment complex in Burien.

The King County Sheriff’s office said it believes the crime was gang-related and that it’s following up on leads.

Brian Wilson, Burien city manager, said he has confidence that the detectives are working hard on the case.

“These are often very complicated, very long type efforts, but I do believe they’re making progress and I think their effort is certainly there in terms of trying to find those responsible,” Wilson said.

Wilson said residents are shaken.

“I think there’s a good deal of fear and concern as would occur in any community, but at the same time I’m really encouraged about the willingness of the community to come together to address this,” he said.

Youth-on-youth violence is a regional problem and the King County prosecutor’s office is working with local municipalities to address it, Wilson said. 

Burien is also in the process of hiring a police chief and will hold an event on Thursday evening for members of the public to meet the finalists for that position.

In July 2017, Ashley Gross became KNKX's youth and education reporter after years of covering the business and labor beat. She joined the station in May 2012 and previously worked five years at WBEZ in Chicago, where she reported on business and the economy. Her work telling the human side of the mortgage crisis garnered awards from the Illinois Associated Press and the Chicago Headline Club. She's also reported for the Alaska Public Radio Network in Anchorage and for Bloomberg News in San Francisco.