23-year-old woman struck by Seattle police vehicle dies

SEATTLE (AP) — A 23-year-old woman hit by a Seattle police patrol vehicle Monday night in the South Lake Union neighborhood has died, police said.

The Seattle Police Department said Tuesday that the woman had died. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified her as Jaahnavi Kandula and determined the cause of death as multiple blunt force injuries. The Seattle Times reported.

A police officer was responding in a patrol vehicle to an urgent “priority one” call with the Seattle Fire Department shortly after 8 p.m. Monday when the officer’s vehicle hit the woman, police said in an online post.

Responding officers found the woman with life-threatening injuries and performed CPR before firefighters arrived and took her to Harborview Medical Center, according to the post.

Detectives from the traffic collision investigation squad are leading an investigation.

“At this point in the investigation, we have no reason to believe the officer intended to hit that woman,” said Seattle police spokesperson Detective Valerie Carson, adding that it’s not being handled as a use of force case.

The officer, who has been with the department since November 2019, will not work his next shift and instead will take a “release day,” Carson said. Release days are part of the department’s officer wellness program after “traumatic or upsetting” events.

Police have not released further details and have declined to identify the officer.