Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson defended her decision to remove the city’s police chief, calling it the ‘right decision at the right time.’ However, she refrained from providing specific reasons for the change in leadership.

The decision comes as police continue investigating a fatal gang-related shooting that occurred during a food festival near the Space Needle last weekend. A 15-year-old was arrested at the scene and charged with assault, but according to charging documents, the gun he fired was not involved in the deaths of two bystanders.

Wilson and then-Police Chief Shon Barnes were criticized for slow disclosure of critical information regarding the shootout, including whether any suspects were still at large. Barnes, Seattle’s second Black police chief, was acknowledged for increasing officer recruitment and reducing downtown crime. Nevertheless, his ousting led to criticism from Black community organizations, a major business group, and several City Council members.

During a Friday news conference with Andre Sayles, appointed as interim chief, Mayor Wilson praised Barnes’s service, stating she had a better understanding of the Seattle Police Department’s operations than critics. She mentioned that lack of communication about the mass shooting wasn’t the sole reason for Barnes’s resignation.

‘There were multiple factors,’ Wilson said. ‘The events of Sunday played into it.’

Deputy Chief Sayles announced increased police presence at public festivals for the rest of summer, and expressed confidence in investigators’ progress toward apprehending more suspects in the shootout.

The incident occurred during the Bite of Seattle, an annual three-day event featuring numerous food and retail vendors, along with performers. The shootout resulted in three fatalities, including a suspect, and injured four individuals, one of whom was a 2-year-old boy.