Officers with the Seattle Police Department on Sunday were mourning the loss of a fellow officer who was killed overnight while off duty and helping a motorist involved in a prior crash on Interstate 5, the Washington State Patrol said.
The incident occurred around 1:15 a.m. on the freeway near South Forest Street, according to investigators.
KOMO News confirmed that the officer was named Lexi Harris, 38. The Washington State Patrol said she was a five-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department.
She was driving home after the end of her police shift when Harris stopped to assist in a three-car collision
While on the roadway, Harris was struck and killed by another vehicle that was not involved in the collision. The officer died at the scene, according to authorities.
The Seattle Times reported that Harris was a Seattle native who grew up in Wallingford and attended Nova High School.
The newspaper quoted her father who said she studied human kinetics at University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Harris was a member of the police department’s wellness unit, who assisted other officers in need of mental and emotional help.
KOMO News spoke to Harris in 2019 during a story about her police unit.
According to state patrol, just before midnight Saturday there was a collision on I-5 southbound near Spokane Street involving 13 vehicles. No one was injured in this collision.
The backup from the original collision then caused a three-car collision around 1:15 a.m. officials say. This is the collision the officer pulled over to assist with.
WSP says someone involved in the three-car collision allegedly stole the officer’s vehicle and drove off. The fallen officer’s vehicle was recovered but officials are still looking for the person who drove away in it.
“Anytime a person is killed, simply out there doing what they think is right, should be problematic to anybody. Having someone who happens to be an officer who just finished their shift serving the citizens of Seattle, only to be hit and killed while rendering assistance, who arguably could’ve gone on their way and driven home and gone to bed at the end of the shift. They didn’t do that out of their sense of responsibility, they’re no longer with us. They were under no obligation to stop at that collision scene,” WSP Captain Ron Mead said during Sunday’s press conference.
Mental health advisors have been made available to employees in the Seattle Police Department, officials say.
