A Washington State trooper and a Washington Department of Transportation employee post signs about a road closure at 84th Street NE and Highway 9 on Sunday. (Michael Henneke / The Herald)

SMART concludes investigation into police use of force used in pursuit

Results of the investigation into the death of Payton Michaels were forwarded to the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office for review.

EVERETT — Detectives from the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team have concluded their investigation into a police use of force incident during a police pursuit in September on Highway 9, it was announced Thursday.

On Sept. 15, Payton Michaels, 19, shot his mother Amanda multiple times in the 1900 block of 200th Street NE in Arlington, according to police. The son immediately fled the scene.

When deputies arrived, they performed lifesaving measures on the mother, but she died at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.

About 15 minutes after the shooting, sheriff’s deputies initiated a pursuit of Payton Michaels on Highway 9, according to SMART — a group of investigators, technicians, specialists and tasked with investigating police use of force. Deputies used a PIT maneuver to stop his car, SMART said at the time. He was thrown from the car and died at the scene.

A PIT maneuver is a tactic in which pursuing officers crash into the back corner of the car they’re pursuing to force them to stop.

SMART has forwarded the results of its investigation to the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office for review, according to a press release. As is customary, findings of the investigation were not publicly disclosed.

The death of Amanda Michaels sent shockwaves through Arlington and beyond. Friends said Amanda Michaels was the victim of a broken system that failed to protect her from her son despite pleas for protection. She asked for a restraining order against her son weeks before her death, records show.

Michael Henneke: 425-339-3431; michael.henneke@heraldnet.com; X: @ihenpecked.

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