Following 3 Seattle-area teens' shooting deaths, community leaders call for structural gun violence solutions

In recent days, vigils have been held for three Seattle area teenagers who were killed by gun violence in separate incidents last week. Community leaders are making an urgent call to stop the violence.

Two of the victims, Hazrat Ali Rohani, 17, and Christopher Yahir Medina Zelaya, 18, were among various Kent-Meridian High School students who often cross paths with staff from the nonprofit Community Passageways, which aims to prevent youth gun violence, crime, and jail time in King County. The organization’s street team provides mentorship and safe passage for kids walking to and from school by placing staff near school campus and the Kent Station.

A third victim, 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine, attended Garfield High School in Seattle's Central District, where Community Passageways' street team also has a presence.

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Mark Rivers, deputy director of Community Passageways’ community safety teams, attended a vigil remembering Rohani and Zelaya Tuesday night. Speaking with KUOW on Wednesday, he pointed to the rising gun violence seen nationwide, calling it a public health matter.

“I liken it more to a mental health issue,” Rivers said. “What does it take … for you to actually take another person's life, think those thoughts, and then go through with it?”

Zelaya was shot and killed at a park near school on June 3; no arrests have been made in that case.

Two days later, Rohani was shot to death outside of a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Renton, after 51-year-old Aaron Brown Myers allegedly mistook his airsoft gun for a Glock. Myers, who is not a law enforcement officer, told police he’d acted on an assumption that Rohani and his friends intended to commit an armed robbery. He now faces second degree murder and second degree assault charges.

“That [death] could have definitely been prevented by [Myers] slowing down, thinking, observing what was actually going on, and then making a plan from there,” Rivers said.

Murphy-Paine was shot and killed outside of Garfield High School while attempting to break up a fight in the school's parking lot on June 6. No arrests have been made in that case.

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Hafiz Adnan Khalid is a community youth mentor who often stops by mosques around the Seattle area to speak with teens. It’s during these gatherings that he often talks to new immigrants and first generation youth about how to navigate American society while still holding onto their cultural identities.

Along the way, Khalid crossed paths with Rohani and his friends. He said it’s hard to comfort the community during a time like this.

“You can only try your best to try to provide hope through action, and through honoring the legacy of other people,” he said. “We spoke about how [Rohani] was always excited every Friday to come sit with us in our religious program, and he was always looking forward to it.”

Khalid said there’s an overwhelming sense of consolation people are sharing now, and naturally that will wane. But it’s also important to give space when needed, and know when it’s a good time to check in.

“At the beginning, everyone is giving all the comfort, support, and the people are dropping off the food at the house and calling and giving condolences, all of that,” he said. “But in three weeks, when that dies down, and now these youth are going to be left to themselves –that's when I'll step in.”

Khalid is calling on communities to help find solutions to the gun violence that affects youth and others across the Puget Sound region.

“We need to work aggressively to solve these problems and come together…and it's not done in a way that's political, but rather in a way that's effective for the well being of our community,” Khalid said.

Rivers shared similar sentiments.

“I think it really starts with how we raise our younger generation and we really need to put a 10 to… 40 year plan together around how we bring up our young people,” he said.