The Seattle Police Department announced Monday that it expects to release internal records and text messages detailing its emergency response to the July 26 Bite of Seattle shooting by the end of the week, stepping forward after criticism over delayed public safety updates.
Police say records will clarify timeline
Interim Police Chief Andre Sayles told FOX 13 News the department has been compiling its own text and Microsoft Teams messages and hopes to make those communications available to news organizations that filed public disclosure requests.
"We, actually on Friday, were working through our own collection of our text messages, Teams messages, and so forth. I think, hopefully by this week, the end of this week, we should have our information released out to the media that put in those public disclosure requests,"
Sayles said his priority is to provide a complete accounting of internal communications rather than piecemeal disclosures. "My biggest thing is I want to make sure we have all the information," he said, adding that he did not want the department to release records only to discover multiple people’s messages were missing from the chronology.
Context: mayoral and council scrutiny
The chronology of communications has been under scrutiny after Mayor Katie Wilson's office released selected text and Microsoft Teams messages late Friday. City Council members have been investigating why the public did not receive safety updates for roughly five hours after the shooting occurred, a delay that has prompted questions about coordination and public notification procedures.
Sayles said he has not yet reviewed all the records released by the mayor’s office, noting the department had a busy weekend, and that he intends to cross-check citywide communications with the department’s internal files to verify the timeline from the night of the incident.
Investigative steps and evidence review
Detectives are continuing an extensive evidence review. Department officials said investigators are reviewing about 450 hours of video footage to piece together a full account of what happened. Sayles did not provide a specific timeline for when the department might release additional suspect information or announce arrests.
He also emphasized that separate recent shootings in the downtown neighborhood were not connected to the Bite of Seattle incident. According to Sayles, three weekend shootings in Belltown are unrelated to the July 26 violence.
- SPD expects to publish internal texts and Teams messages by week’s end.
- Detectives are reviewing approximately 450 hours of video.
- City Council is probing the nearly five-hour delay in public safety updates.
- Three shootings in Belltown over the weekend are reported as unrelated.
The forthcoming release is intended to provide a comprehensive view of the department’s internal response and to reconcile any discrepancies between personnel messages and what was shared publicly by the mayor’s office.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Video under review | 450 hours |
| Delay in public safety alerts | Nearly five hours |
| Related weekend shootings | 3 — reported as not connected |
Legal and policy implications could follow the release, particularly if the newly disclosed communications reveal lapses in procedure or communications breakdowns between city leaders and the police department. City Council members who have been examining the timeline may use the records to press for reforms in how emergency information is shared with the public.
For Seattle residents, the disclosures are likely to influence public debate about downtown safety, event security protocols and the speed and clarity of official communications during crises. The department’s stated goal of completeness aims to ensure a single, verified record that can be compared with material previously released by the mayor’s office.
SPD did not provide an exact release date or a schedule for further public briefings. Investigators continue to follow leads in the case, and officials have not announced any new suspect details as of Monday.
WE NEWS will monitor developments and report when the department posts the records and when investigators provide updates on suspects or any related enforcement actions.
