A new report from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office shows that 2025 was the safest year for gun violence in King County since before the pandemic, with levels declining for the second consecutive year.

Compared to 2024, gun violence homicides, gun violence injuries and overall shots fired all fell substantially, according to the report. A two year comparison shows a 47% decrease in firearm homicides and a 45% decrease in firearm injuries from 2023.

Year over year, King County experienced 16 fewer gun violence homicide victims, a 22% decrease, 142 fewer nonfatal shooting victims, a 45% decrease, and 558 fewer overall shots fired incidents, a 35% decrease, the report states.

“Every single incident of gun violence has the potential to take a life, devastate a family, and traumatize a community,” King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said in a statement. “The stories we hear throughout King County are why we are working so hard to reduce gun violence and we making progress that began in 2024 and has continued in 2025. We will keep working to make King County safer.”

The report notes that gun violence decreased in 2024 for the first time since 2018. The downward trend continued in 2025, with even larger reductions in some major categories than the previous year.

The data also shows notable demographic trends. While youth shooting victims doubled from 2019 to 2024, there was a 61% decrease in juvenile shooting victims in 2025 compared with 2024, marking the lowest number seen since pre pandemic years.

Black or African American males remained the majority of shooting victims, according to the report. However, the fourth quarter 2025 report showed more than a 50% drop in the number of Black or African American shooting victims compared with prior quarters, reaching a level not seen in any quarter of the previous eight years.

Historical Comparisons

Overall shots fired incidents and shooting victim numbers have steadily decreased over the past few years. The report states that 2025 marked the lowest number of shooting victims since pre pandemic years, and shots fired incidents approached pre pandemic levels.

King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office Shots Fired Reports

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said each successive report presents the most accurate data available at the time of release and may include minor discrepancies compared with earlier reports as investigations continue. For example, a fatal shooting initially counted in a prior year could later be determined to be a suicide, resulting in an adjustment to past totals.

Previous annual and quarterly reports are available at kingcounty.gov/gunviolencedata.