Authorities Investigating Man's Death During Altercation With Police Near Echo Lake

ECHO LAKE, WA - A Snohomish County law enforcement task force is investigating what happened to a man who died after an altercation with police at a home in a rural area north of Cottage Lake on Tuesday night.

Police responded to a home along the 12000 block 221st St Southeast in the Echo Lake area around 9 p.m. Tuesday night on a report of a domestic disturbance. The two Snohomish County deputies who responded to the call requested backup shortly after they came into contact with 29-year-old man at the home; moments later, they issued a "help the officer" call, which caused police from 13 area agencies to respond.

According to Edmonds police Sgt. Josh McClure, a member of the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team (SMART), there was a physical altercation between police and the 29-year-old man, and, at some point, police deployed a Taser.

About 12 minutes later, McClure said, the man "became unresponsive." Officers performed CPR for about an hour, but they couldn't revive the man.

The SMART task force is a coalition of detectives from police agencies around Snohomish County; the task force is in charge of investigating police-involved deaths. McClure said that six officers were involved in the altercation with the man: three Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputies, one Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office sergeant and two officers from Monroe. The age and tenure of the officers involved will be released with future updates.

The six officers have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the results of the investigation, McClure said on Wednesday afternoon.

The area where the incident occurred is off Echo Lake Road near the Paradise Valley Conservation Area.

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