Son of Seattle police officer run over, killed by suspected car prowler in Sammamish park

SAMMAMISH, Wash. -- The son of a veteran Seattle police officer was run over and killed while confronting a suspected car prowler in a Sammamish park Wednesday, the King County Sheriff's Office and Seattle Police Department said.

The victim's name has not yet been released.

The victim was walking his dog with his girlfriend at Beaver Lake Park in Sammamish Wednesday afternoon when he saw someone trying to break into his parked car and tried to stop him, King County sheriff's Sgt. Cindi West said.



The suspect jumped into a tan or gold SUV and tried to run the victim over, West said. At that point, the victim pulled a gun and fired at the suspect's SUV. "He fired shots and was still run over," West said.

He died at the scene.



The only information they had on the suspect was that he was driving a tan or gold SUV and that the vehicle likely has bullet holes in it from the victim's gunfire.

The Seattle Police Department posted this information online Wednesday night:

"It is with great sorrow that we must relay that a member of our SPD family was the victim of a homicide today. The son of a veteran Seattle police officer was killed in an incident that occurred around 2:30 PM Wednesday at Beaver Lake Park in the city of Sammamish.

"King County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes detectives are still gathering details, but believe the suspects fled the scene in a gold or tan SUV, possibly with bullet damage to the front end of the vehicle.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the officer’s family and our department has offered its assistance to the King County Sheriff’s Office."

West said there had been a recent uptick in car prowls in the Sammamish area, and they are looking to see if these are connected to Wednesday's incident.

Neighbors say they heard the shots fired, and are shocked an incident like this in what they call their "quiet" neighborhood.

"You know it’s a sleepy neighborhood and one of the safest neighborhoods in the country, and you hate to see something like this happen," said a neighbor, who only wanted to be referred to as Dwaine.

No other information was immediately released.

Detectives are asking anyone who was at the park and may have witnessed the incident to call the King County Sheriff's Office at 206-296-3311.