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Shon Barnes Leaving Madison To Become Seattle Police Chief

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Madison, Wisc., Police Chief Shon Barnes was named chief of police in Seattle on Friday, five days after he was thrust into the national spotlight because of a shooting at a religious school in his city that killed a teacher and student. Barnes’ departure comes as Madison police are in the early days of their investigation into what motivated 15-year-old Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow to open fire at Abundant Life Christian School, killing teacher Erin West and 14-year-old freshman Rubi Patricia Vergara. Rupnow killed herself. Barnes was known to be a finalist for the Seattle job before the shooting. He has served as the chief of police in Madison since 2021. He also was a finalist to become chief of police in Chicago in 2023 and San Jose, Calif., in October, The Associated Press reports.


Barnes has long been rumored to be looking to leave the job in Madison, which has a population of 280,000. Just seven months into the position, he said that despite the rumors he was in the job “for the long haul.” Barnes’ three children and wife continued to live in Illinois, where he previously worked, while he rented an apartment in Madison. Barnes has taken center stage responding to the school shooting, but with mixed results. His department initially reported that five people had been killed. Barnes has done many interviews with local and national media outlets this week, defending not releasing more details about the shooter's motivation or whether her parents may be charged, citing the ongoing investigation. Barnes is a former U.S. Marine who began his law enforcement career in 2000 with the Greensboro, N.C., Police Department. He left to become deputy chief of police in Salisbury, N.C., from 2017 to 2020. He worked as the director of training and professional development with Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability starting in August 2020 before coming to Madison in February 2021.


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