Work begins on clearing homeless encampment in Beacon Hill a week after shooting
It’s a stretch of road near 25th Avenue South and South McClellan Street that many neighbors have long considered dangerous.
SEATTLE — The City of Seattle Unified Care Team has begun clearing a camp north of Beacon Hill less than a week after a man was shot and killed.
It’s a stretch of road near 25th Avenue South and South McClellan Street that many neighbors have long considered dangerous.
Marine Kleven and Joyce Mork-O’Brien are just two of many neighborhoods who have lobbied the city to do something about encampments in their neighborhoods.
“It’s heartbreaking but in a very difficult way to manage. We have been talking about this situation for several months,” Kleven said. “I really feel that we all deserve to feel safe and I also feel that we can live peacefully with each other without sacrificing safety.”
They have called the police on everything from public drug use to lewd behavior and cars blocking roads – but they say it’s unlikely it was their complaints that prompted the success. city.
“I’m still angry that it took so long for something to happen and I truly believe the only reason it happened is because a man was murdered,” Mork-O’Brien said. on Friday”.
Seattle police said a 39-year-old man died Monday after a weekend shooting – days after several notices were posted in the area warning of an impending eviction.
In a written statement, the mayor’s office called the encampment a “threat to public safety,” saying outreach workers were engaging individuals living on site to connect them with “shelter services available” and added that the work is expected to last several days.
Neighbors don’t know how long this clear street will last.
“Well, part of it is a sense of relief that it’s finally coming to an end,” Mork-O’Brien said. I don’t have any confidence that they won’t come back or that some groups won’t come back.
