Seattle, WA

Seattle’s first 2026 homicide stems from a shooting more than 50 years ago

Published

4 months ago

January 23, 2026

Seattle’s first 2026 homicide stems from a shooting more than 50 years ago

The story of Joseph Garrett’s murder is more than 50 years in the making. His life ended on Jan. 4, making 71-year-old Garrett Seattle’s first homicide of 2026.

The shot that killed him was fired in 1973 outside of Garfield High School by a man who was never charged and who also is now dead, according to Seattle Police.

“We believe this is the longest delayed-death homicide that has happened in King County,” said Casey McNerthney, director of communications for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. “Delayed-death homicides, unfortunately, are relatively common. There are at least a few of them each year, but typically it’s [after] a few years or maybe even a decade.”

The only published account of the shooting that led to Garrett’s death is a short article from a newspaper that also no longer exists (at least in print) — the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A four-paragraph story with the headline, “Fight Ends With Youth Being Shot,” published on Oct. 3, 1973, said Garrett, 19, remained in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center and was being treated for a bullet that lodged in his back.

The P-I account said Garrett got into a fight with an unidentified man who tried to hit him over the head with a handgun at the intersection of 25th Avenue and Jefferson Street, in front of the high school and less than a block from where Garrett lived.

According to the P-I, Garrett grabbed for the gun and, during the fight that ensued, the gun went off. The bullet hit him in the shoulder, traveled down his spine, and stopped in his mid-back, leaving him paralyzed.

It’s unclear whether Garrett was a student at Garfield at the time of the shooting. McNerthney said he could not find Garrett’s photo in Garfield High School yearbooks from the time. Archival and online searches reveal little information about who Garrett was or other details of his life before or after the shooting.

On Jan. 4, Garrett died after living his entire adult life paralyzed from the chest down. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy and ruled the death a homicide as the result of his gunshot wound from 1973.

Detective Rolf Norton at the Medical Examiner’s Office offered no additional information, other than to say via email, “Those involved are deceased.”

Detective Brian Pritchard at the Seattle Police Department said the suspect in the incident had no arrest record, was not charged in connection with Garrett’s murder, and had died in 2009. Because he was not charged with a crime, police did not release the suspect’s name.

McNerthney praised detectives like Norton, who he said detests the phrase “cold case.”

“A lot of the cases that I think the general public might think are forgotten or ignored in the back of a vault somewhere are often on Rolf’s desk,” McNerthney said.

He brought up two homicides (one from 1994 and a second from 2015) that were forwarded to the prosecuting attorney’s office in November 2025, both of which resulted in charges, and another 1997 homicide involving a newborn found dead in a bathroom garbage can at a north Seattle gas station, which Nelson helped solve. That last case led to the conviction in 2023 of Christine Marie Warren, the newborn’s mother, for first-degree manslaughter.

McNerthney said advances in genealogy, forensics, and DNA technology make it more likely that homicides that appear to be at a dead end will eventually be solved.

“There’s no statute of limitations on murder,” he said. “A lot of times, people may think after a few years or even a few decades that they’ve gotten away with it, but they haven’t.”

Editor’s Note: If you knew or had interactions with Joseph Garrett and are willing to share more about his life, please email Stephen Howie at howie@kuow.org.

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Seattle, WA

The Seattle Opera Hosted Its First Official Furry Night – The Stranger

Published

2 hours ago

May 18, 2026

Press Room

The Seattle Opera Hosted Its First Official Furry Night – The Stranger

Writing and photography by West Smith

Furries are everywhere.

That’s the biggest lesson I took away from attending my first furry convention earlier this year. Before that, I think I still carried some lazy stereotype in my head about the furry community being made up exclusively of Reddit-dwelling teenagers. Then I got there and met doctors, lawyers, medical technicians, people from every possible walk of life. The point was driven home a few months later when my urologist casually told me he’d been to a few furry conventions himself.

Christian Pursell, known in the furry community as Chester the Geroo.

So by the time I found myself heading to Furry Night at the Opera, the idea of a furry opera singer didn’t feel surprising at all; if anything, it felt obvious.

The evening was championed by baritone Christian Pursell, better known in the fandom as Chester the Geroo, who plays Escamillo in Carmen. As far as anyone can tell, this was the first official Furry Night at the opera in history, a genuinely historic moment for the fandom and the city of Seattle.

An attendee grooms their tail after removing it from a suitcase ahead of the evening’s performance.

Seattle Opera seemed proud to be hosting it. After seeing how successful the night was, I’d be surprised if other opera houses didn’t soon follow (fur)suit.

At first, I wasn’t entirely sure what “Furry Night at the Opera” meant. Was this an event exclusively for furries? Would I feel out of place showing up without a tail? When I asked someone at the box office, they laughed and said, “This is a 2,800-seat house. There’s going to be all kinds of people here, not just furries.” They were right, the crowd wasn’t all fur-suited. But this wasn’t a typical opera crowd either. In the lobby, there were dozens of oversized, fur-covered heads weaving through the crowd (they were asked to remove their heads for the show, to make sure they didn’t block the view of the stage).

At the pre-show meet-and-greet, Pursell handed out stickers, signed posters, and gave out head pats.

Furries arrived in formal wear, some toting their fursuits in. Pursell arrived wearing his authentic Escamillo matador costume from that evening’s performance of Carmen. Before the show, he hosted a free meet-and-greet, handing out stickers, signing posters, and giving out head pats.

In line with his matador costume, he also staged a mock bullfight with someone in a bull costume.

Anyone else see the second set of horns in this photo?

The muleta is the same prop used later that evening in Carmen.

It is difficult to know exactly how many furries attended the event. More than 50 guests used the special Furry Night coupon code, though additional attendees purchased regular tickets to attend the pre-show meet-and-greet.

Yincollie the mouse brought their own opera binoculars for the evening’s performance.

Some attendees arrived in formal wear before changing into their fursuits in designated changing areas set up by Seattle Opera. Some attendees transported their suits in name-brand wheeled luggage, and some used reusable Walmart bags.

But not everyone had to check their fursuits. Local cidery Slightly Furry rented out a private box for the event so they could stay suited up for the performance.

Opera has a reputation for being a stuffy, upper-class art form, something exclusive, intimidating, and maybe not entirely meant for me. But just as my assumptions about the furry community turned out to be lazy and incomplete, so too were my assumptions about the opera. Furry Night at the Opera reminded me that both are, at their best, invitations: spaces built around passion, community, and the simple joy of sharing an experience with others. Art, it turns out, is for everyone.

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Seattle, WA

Gunfire outside Capitol Hill nightclub leaves 3 men shot, Seattle Police searching for suspects – MyNorthwest.com

Published

14 hours ago

May 18, 2026

Press Room

Gunfire outside Capitol Hill nightclub leaves 3 men shot, Seattle Police searching for suspects – MyNorthwest.com

Three men were shot outside the Cultura nightclub early Monday morning in Capitol Hill, with one victim in critical condition.

At approximately 1:10 a.m., the Seattle Police Department (SPD) responded to reports of a shooting in the 900 block of E. Pike Street, SPD announced.

As officers arrived, they found three men suffering from gunshot wounds. Officers administered medical aid until the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) arrived.

SFD later transported all three victims to Harborview Medical Center, with two in serious condition and the other in critical condition.

Altercation with security leads to Capitol Hill nightclub shooting

The shooting followed an altercation involving three men and the nightclub security. The men were reportedly leaving the scene when at least one suspect pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots towards the club, which struck the three victims.

SPD noted that investigators are searching for two to three suspects who are believed to have a connection to the shooting, though no suspect descriptions have been released, according to KING 5.

The SPD Gun Violence Reduction Unit is currently investigating the events preceding the shooting.

Traffic was temporarily blocked by emergency vehicles on E. Pike Street, between Broadway and 10th Avenue, as Seattle Police and Seattle Fire were on the scene. The roadway was eventually opened up for traffic.

Anyone with information is asked to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.

Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest

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