Death by Cop 2021-2025
Search fatalities
You can use any or all of the fields to refine the search.
Patrick Wilfred Sathyanathan
Age : 60
Gender : Male
Race : Asian
Date : 08/08/2025
Location : 15800 block of Northup Way
City : Bellevue
County : King
State : Washington
Agency : Bellevue Police Department, King County Independent Force Investigation Team
Officer(s) :Not Disclosed
Cause of Death : Gunshot
Event : Killed by police during standoff
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
On 08/07/2025, at approximately 8:14 p.m., Bellevue Police Department officers responded to the 15800 block of Northup Way after receiving reports of a man in crisis. Police identified the man as 60-year-old Patrick Wilfred Sathyanathan, a longtime Bellevue resident. Reports indicated that Sathyanathan had an air-powered rifle and a sword. Police established a large perimeter around the Foxborough residential complex, deployed tactical personnel and an armored vehicle, and ordered some nearby residents to evacuate or shelter in place.
Bellevue Police alleged that Sathyanathan discharged a high-velocity air rifle that fired metal projectiles toward officers during the encounter. The weapon was not a conventional firearm. Police remained outside the residence for approximately four hours while officers attempted to communicate with Sathyanathan and persuade him to surrender. Residents reported hearing police repeatedly ordering someone to come outside with his hands up during the prolonged standoff.
At approximately 12:31 a.m. on 08/08/2025, a Bellevue police officer fired at Sathyanathan, striking him in the head and killing him. The King County Medical Examiner subsequently determined that Sathyanathan died from a gunshot wound of the head and classified his death as a homicide. No Bellevue officers or other community members were physically injured during the encounter.
The circumstances preceding Sathyanathan's death are notable because he had a documented history of publicly criticizing the Bellevue Police Department. Beginning at least as early as 2023, Sathyanathan repeatedly appeared before the Bellevue City Council to complain about police conduct and accountability. In June 2023, he specifically complained about a police search of his home and the absence of an independent police-accountability office. He also repeatedly advocated for Bellevue officers to wear body cameras and raised concerns about the city's system for receiving and investigating complaints against police.
Sathyanathan continued making complaints about Bellevue Police in 2025. At a City Council meeting, he alleged felony perjury, false criminal charges and property damage by Bellevue officers while executing a search warrant, and described another encounter at Crossroads Shopping Center in which he said police treated him unfairly and forced him to leave. These were Sathyanathan's allegations and do not establish that the officers committed the misconduct he described, but they document a significant preexisting dispute between Sathyanathan and the same police department that later killed him.
Because Bellevue Police killed Sathyanathan, the department was excluded from the independent investigation. The Independent Force Investigation Team-King County assumed responsibility, with the Washington State Patrol serving as lead investigative agency. The team issued a series of investigative updates through October 2025 before completing the investigation and forwarding its findings for prosecutorial review.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office subsequently reviewed the completed investigation. By 2026, the Prosecuting Attorney's Public Integrity Team listed Sathyanathan's 08/08/2025 death as a completed Bellevue Police Department use-of-force fatality with a disposition of "Declined," meaning prosecutors declined to file criminal charges arising from the police shooting.
The identity of the Bellevue officer who fired the fatal shot remains absent from the publicly indexed reporting located for this update. Contemporary reporting specifically noted that the involved officer had not been publicly identified. The later prosecutorial disposition confirms that the investigation has now been completed and criminal charges declined, but the publicly searchable material located does not provide a sufficiently verified officer name to enter into the database.
