Thursday marked two weeks since 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine was killed outside Garfield High School. No arrests have been made.
Murphy-Paine was fatally shot June 6 in the school’s parking lot during lunch. The shooter is suspected to be a school-aged male, Seattle police officials said during a news conference immediately following the shooting.
Calls for justice and an end to gun violence followed. However, as the school’s prom and graduation came and went, police have released few details about the shooting.
On Thursday, Eric Muñoz, a Seattle police spokesperson, said there were no updates on the investigation. “Seattle police are conducting an active investigation into the homicide that occurred at Garfield High School. They are working very, very hard on that investigation.”
Muñoz said any information about an arrest related to the investigation will be released to the public “the day, or the morning after the day” any arrest is made.
“Typically homicide cases are confidential,” he said. “It’s done to respect the integrity of the investigation. If an arrest is made, it will be released immediately.”
As students sat at Memorial Stadium on Monday wearing purple caps and gowns, Garfield principal Tarance Hart called Murphy-Paine’s death a “profound loss.”
Pointing to several instances of gun violence near and at the campus, he vowed to make the school safer.
A student was shot in March while waiting for her bus outside the school. There was also a shooting outside the school in October and a string of nearby shootings last June that did not involve students but prompted increased security on campus.
“We honor his memory tonight,” Hart told the crowd Monday. “And our hearts and thoughts are with his family and friends. We want to recognize that [Amarr] did not lose his life in vain. We are going to do our very best to make whatever improvements at Garfield High School — to improve the safety, improve the social-emotional well-being of our students.”