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Seattle police said crime and violence typically rise in summer as more people are out and confrontations increase.

However, this is different — since April 1, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has responded to 20 assaults or homicides involving a knife.

“They are easily concealed and accessible as well,” SPD Detective Brian Pritchard said. “Guns might be a little more difficult to get ahold of, so people tend to use knives to protect themselves.”

The latest attack happened Monday evening, just after five o’clock on 3rd Avenue and James Street in Pioneer Square.

Officers found a man with a stab wound to the head. Witnesses said there was a fight before the stabbing. The victim is in stable condition, and no arrests have been made. Police can’t fully explain the upward trend.

“We don’t have any indication that it’s people that are unhoused or anything like that. Like I said, it’s usually during the summer months, assaults go up and right now there tends to be more stabbings,” Pritchard said.

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