Seattle Police Chief cancels interview, acknowledges frequent travel outside city

Key Points:

• Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes canceled a planned KOMO News interview about the deadly Seattle Center shooting and his travel schedule just 30 minutes before it was set to start, providing only portions of his calendar instead.
• The calendar shows Barnes was out of the Seattle area nearly a dozen times from late March to July, including seven work-related conferences and four trips to Chicago, where he has family; he was attending a conference in Dallas during the shooting.
• Barnes has faced criticism for his absence during the shooting and the department's slow communication response, but he rejected claims that he frequently travels or is often absent from the city.
• The records indicate Barnes was not working from his Seattle office for close to 50 days during the four-month period, though it is unclear how much remote work he conducted or the necessity of his frequent travel.
• Questions remain about discrepancies in Barnes’ travel dates and the impact of his absence on the department’s handling of the shooting, as the chief declined to answer these before canceling the interview.