The gunshots were so loud it sounded like they were coming from the backyard.

It was a warm April day in 2016, and Adonis Ducksworth’s family had the doors and windows of their Rainier Beach home open. As the shots rang out, his kids jumped down to the floor. The sound of sirens soon filled the neighborhood. A man was killed just outside the dance center where his daughter took classes.

Many in South Seattle have become numb to shootings, Ducksworth said. Despite frequent community organizing to improve safety, he said, residents have been met with a tepid response from local police.

“At some point, my kid was like, ‘I want to move, I don’t want to live here anymore. … I don’t want to get shot at a McDonald’s or going to the grocery store,’ ” recalled Ducksworth, 50, on a recent day at

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