Man shot, dies after confrontation with police near Lynnwood

LYNNWOOD -- A 46-year-old Lynnwood man was shot by Snohomish County deputies in the Martha Lake area after a confrontation Wednesday night. The man later died at the hospital, police said.

Everett police officer Aaron Snell, a spokesman for the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team (SMART), said the shooting occurred after 7 p.m. in the 15200 block of Meadow Road, north of Martha Lake.

Snell said deputies were in the area looking for a man in violation of a court order. The confrontation began when deputies found the subject of the order near the intersection of 152nd Place Southwest and Meadow Road, Snell said.

Neighbors said the man was throwing firecrackers at deputies, but Snell could not confirm that.

He said there was a confrontation with a man there, shots were fired, the suspect was hit and taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.

Neighbor Benjamin Smokovich said, “It started off with just yelling, ‘Put the gun down!’ I was in my room with the window open and I heard, ‘Put the gun down’ and a bunch of fire exchanged, a bunch of gunfire.

“Before that I heard a bunch of explosions, like fireworks, and you could hear the fireworks, you know, the echo.”

“My neighbor was outside with Roman candles, shooting those off and a police officer showed up and told him to stop, so he turned a Roman candle and pointed it at an officer. And the police officer pulled out a gun and my neighbor went inside, grabbed his own gun and then that’s where I started to hear, 'Put the gun down, put the gun down,' bunch of screaming, tons of cop cars.

“There was a bunch of fire exchange and an ambulance showed up and took him off; he was pretty bloody from what I heard.”