Seattle's police chief has been shown the door after his department's bungled response to a mass shooting that killed three people at a city food festival — a crisis he sat out from a diversity conference in Dallas while his officers scrambled for answers back home.

Shon Barnes, 51, was reportedly relieved of his duties Wednesday night by Mayor Katie Wilson after he refused to resign during a meeting at City Hall, according to multiple outlets. The ouster came just days after Barnes couldn't explain his absence from the city during the deadliest attack on Seattle residents in recent memory — and snapped at a reporter who had the temerity to ask.

The stakes are straightforward: three people are dead, four more were hospitalized, and the man charged with leading the city's law enforcement response was 2,000 miles away at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives conference. His department waited five hours to hold its first press conference. Initially, police told the public there were two suspects; that number has since been revised to three. A 15-year-old has been charged with first-degree assault, one suspected gunman was found dead at the scene, and a third suspect remains at large. Assistant Chief Nicole Powell didn't disclose the possible gang-related motive until late Monday afternoon — roughly 24 hours after the shooting.

Barnes' absence wasn't a one-off. The New York Post reported that Barnes had been out of town multiple times in recent months — Chicago between Feb. 4-10, March 13-16, June 20-21, and July 9-13 — where his wife and children live. When local reporter Connor Nash pressed him on his whereabouts Monday, Barnes erupted: "Let me tell you something. I don't have to tell you where I go. I had a medical procedure on Friday. I have been working as hard as I can for this city, from the day I got here. You got that?"

Barnes tried to walk it back the next day, telling reporters he wouldn't call the exchange "heated" and that he respects the media. The damage was already done. At a prior press conference alongside the mayor, Barnes offered a different defense: "I wish that I had a crystal ball, and we could schedule gun violence, but we can't," as Fox News reported.

The timeline of Barnes' final hours as chief reads like a man who knew the writing was on the wall. He canceled a series of scheduled one-on-one interviews with local media Wednesday. His department released portions of his calendar instead. He attended a 6:30 p.m. vigil for the shooting victims, then abruptly left to meet with the mayor. Shortly after, he was texting people about his dismissal.

Seattle police would not confirm the firing. "We have nothing we can confirm at this point," public information officer Patrick Michaud told KIRO, directing inquiries to the mayor's office. Wilson's office has also been silent.

Notably, Fox News reported that Black community leaders — including the Seattle NAACP, the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, and the MLK Coalition — have planned an 8 a.m. Thursday protest at City Hall over Barnes' removal. The identity-politics infrastructure is mobilizing before the chief's dismissal has even been officially announced. Neither outlet reported the groups addressing the three dead Seattle residents or the delayed public safety response that prompted the ouster.

Barnes, who previously led the police department in Madison, Wisconsin, was sworn in just one year ago after a nationwide search. Wilson — a democratic socialist — had previously announced she would retain him and work together on "professionalism, accountability, compassion and community partnership." The word Seattle residents might focus on now is the one missing from that list: protection.

The open question is whether Seattle's leaders learned anything about putting public safety over progressive branding — or whether Barnes will simply be replaced by another chief who checks the right boxes while the city checks the casualty count.