As just about everyone knows by now, Harps, 31, was stabbed by an unknown assailant shortly after 7 p.m. on Dec. 31 as she was walking back to her apartment at 15th Avenue and East Howell Street. She was attacked and stabbed several times near the entrance of her building as she was returning home after shopping. Her screams were heard by several neighbors who immediately called 911. Police arrived approximately one minute after the first 911 call. Harps was rushed to Harborview Medical Center where she later succumbed to her wounds.
Harps was an Ohio native who moved to Seattle roughly three years ago. She worked as an organizer at the Sierra Club's local Cascade chapter after having worked for the Sierra Club in Ohio. A notice on the Sierra Club's Web site described her as a passionate advocate of the environment, a person whose love for the outdoors "was paramount," a young woman who loved hiking and backpacking and someone who relished the challenges of being a triathlete.
"She was an organizer who more than lived up to the job title; her plans and materials were always in perfect order. She touched people at an individual level, and the impact of her personal commitment multiplied as she reached and inspired hundreds of volunteers and activists," read, in part, an account of Harps from the Sierra Club's Web site.
The flowers, cards and lit candles that make up the spontaneous memorial for Shannon Harps outside her apartment still tell the tale. In the days following her death, the area around 15th Avenue East and East Howell Street was a nexus of activity. Local television crews were in consistent evidence. Police cars were often visible and officers sought to ascertain whether the attack was random or if others in the neighborhood were at specific risk. Often the sidewalk was crowded with people, sometimes one or two people stood quietly at the scene. But Harps' apartment building became a living, if somber, memorial.
Many notes of reminiscence and well wishes were still to be found at the building a week after the attack. A steady stream of friends, neighbors and strangers made their way to pay their respects, commiserate or just reflect upon the tragedy that had befallen a young woman on the last day of 2007.
One man, standing by himself four days after the attack, said he didn't know Shannon Harps. While he lived on Capitol Hill he said he didn't live near 15th and didn't make his way to that neighborhood too often.
"I think it's so sad," said Don, who declined to give his last name, in a slow and quiet voice. When asked if he felt safe on Capitol Hill he said: "Yeah, I guess so."
At the Victrola espresso shop a short walk from the scene on 15th Avenue East, Robin Mills said the incident made her more cautious but did not change how she felt about the neighborhood.
"I think this was a random thing," she said, adding that she didn't know Harps. "I feel terrible about it but it's really just something terrible that happened."
Seattle Police released a sketch of a person of interest on Wednesday, Jan. 2 (see details from the Police Department below left). After the sketch was uploaded to local media websites and blogs, police received numerous tips on a police hotline. But as of press time that person illustrated in the sketch - who is not labeled a suspect because no witnesses saw the crime - had not been identified.
Doug Schwartz is the editor of the Capitol Hill Times. He can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.
More information about Shannon Harps, including a guestbook where one can read or share reminiscences, is available at http://cascade.sierraclub.org/
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