The four day King County inquest into the 2021 Seattle police shooting of Derek Hayden wrapped on June 4, 2026, leaving a blunt paper trail in its wake. A six person jury concluded that bullets fired by a Seattle Police Department officer struck and killed Hayden, yet also found his death was not caused by criminal means. Recordings of the hearings and the jury’s written answers are now part of the public record.
Jury’s answers and what is now on the record
The jury’s completed interrogatories walk through the panel’s conclusions in a series of numbered questions and answers. Jurors recorded that Officer Jared’s rounds hit Hayden, that Hayden advanced toward an officer while holding a knife, and that his death resulted from bullets fired by an SPD officer. The panel also unanimously answered that the death was not caused by criminal means and that the officer met the legal "good faith" standard.
The county posted a PDF of the interrogatories and the hearing videos online. The documents are available through King County and the full archive sits on the King County Inquest Program site.
What the inquest hearings showed
Inside the inquest courtroom, jurors watched the shooting unfold again and again on screens. The senior officer at the scene, Detective Garick Mattson, rewatched body worn video with the panel and told them, "Everything happened really fast; it was a pretty stressful situation." Jurors viewed multiple streams of body worn and in car video and heard testimony from responding officers and witnesses before filling out their interrogatories. KIRO 7 published a short video excerpt of parts of the hearing and the officer’s statement.
How the night unfolded
Files reviewed by prosecutors and the independent investigative record show Port of Seattle officers first encountered Hayden on Feb. 16, 2021. Officers say Hayden told them he wanted them to "kill" him while he was holding a knife. Port officers fired less lethal sponge tip rounds before Seattle Police officers arrived. When two SPD officers confronted Hayden and he advanced, both officers fired, and medics later pronounced him dead. Those details are summarized in the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office memo and contemporaneous reporting about the shooting.
Oversight findings and discipline
The city’s Office of Police Accountability reviewed the shooting in early 2022 and found the involved officers violated SPD de escalation policy because they did not engage in planning or use the principles of time, distance and shielding. The office did not sustain a violation for the use of deadly force. OPA’s closed case summary recommended management actions that led to short suspensions without pay for the officers involved, as the oversight report lays out.
Legal implications
Inquests are administrative, fact finding proceedings. They do not themselves bring criminal charges, but they can influence prosecutors and public debate. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had previously reviewed the investigation, declined to file criminal charges, and recommended an inquest. The jury’s answers, which record that Jared’s rounds struck and caused Hayden’s death while finding no criminal basis, make new criminal prosecution unlikely.
The Final Interrogatories show jurors were unanimous that Hayden’s death resulted from bullets fired by an SPD officer and that Officer Jared’s rounds struck him. They also show jurors split 4 to 2 on whether deadly force was "necessary."
What comes next
Family members and advocates have said the public record reinforces their calls for different responses to people in crisis and have urged elected leaders to expand non armed crisis teams. The county keeps the full hearing videos and the jury interrogatories online for anyone who wants to see exactly what jurors saw. Local outlets have also published shorter clips and reporting that summarize testimony and the jury’s written answers.
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