Man dead in officer-involved shooting in rural area south of Bellingham
Police shot and killed a 34-year-old man Saturday night after a standoff where the man stole a boat and began shooting a handgun near lakeside homes southeast of Bellingham, authorities said.
A statement from the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team, which is investigating the incident, said the man was from Cape Horn, a small town near Washougal. No other injuries were reported.
Snohomish County officers are handling the inquiry into the the shooting because it involved officers from the Washington State Patrol, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies in Whatcom and Skagit counties, according to a statement from SMART spokesman Nathan Fabia.
Fabria said the incident began about 7:30 p.m. Saturday when a Washington State patrol tried to pull over the driver of a stolen motorcycle on northbound Interstate 5 south of Mount Vernon.
“The motorcycle did not stop, and a pursuit was initiated,” Fabia said.
The driver abandoned the motorcycle at Alger Cain Lake Road near Camp 2 Road, near the south end of Cain Lake, a 71-acre lake surrounded by homes southeast of Bellingham. There, he took a boat onto the lake.
“The male began firing rounds from a handgun in multiple directions. The male was the only person on the boat. The Whatcom County SWAT team responded, and officers shot and struck the male in the boat. Officers were then able to contact the male on the boat, brought him back to land, and provided first aid. The male was loaded into an ambulance for transport but succumbed to injuries,” Fabia said.
The Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy, he said.
A person who lives in the area told The Bellingham Herald that a helicopter was circling and more than 10 shots were fired over a period of about two hours.
Saturday’s incident is at least the second officer-involved shooting this year in Whatcom County. A sheriff’s deputy was injured in what was described as an accidental shooting in February.
Editor’s note (May 18): This article was updated to correct the suspected town of residence for the man who was killed.
This story was originally published May 18, 2025 at 9:27 AM.
