SEATTLE – Just hours after two people were killed in the  fourth deadly shooting in the Rainier Valley in less than two months, Seattle Police Department (SPD) released a statement asking for the public’s help in fighting a “sharp rise in violent crime.”

“Recently there has been an increase in violent crime in many of our neighborhoods,” wrote SPD spokesman Detective Jeff Kappel. “The Seattle Police Department views this increase as a public safety emergency.”

Police say they are investigating nine homicides since the start of the year – including five in the Rainier Valley – and many more shootings that could have easily become homicides.

They say they can’t solve the crimes alone and that investigators need the public’s help with information and tips if they are to solve cases.

Anyone with information on any of these crimes is urged to call the Seattle Police via the Homicide/Assault Tip Line at (206) 233-5000. Callers may remain anonymous.

The scene of a September 2011 shooting in Rainier Beach that left a man at a bus stop with multiple gunshot wounds to his legs at 4 pm on a Wednesday. Photo/Rainier Valley Post