Shoreline man dies in Lake Ballinger

Lake Ballinger
Photo courtesy MLTNews.com

Residents in the north part of Shoreline heard news copters circling over the west side of Lake Ballinger for over a half hour on Tuesday afternoon, August 20, 2019.

According to My Edmonds News

A 52-year-old Shoreline man died after going into distress while swimming in Lake Ballinger Tuesday afternoon.

South County Fire spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said first responders were called to the lake at 3:05pm after receiving reports of a man in distress about 50 yards off shore. According to Mountlake Terrace Police Commander Pat Lowe, the victim and his fiancée were with a group of friends who had tied their paddle boards together to form a raft. The man then left the raft to retrieve something that fell in the water.

It’s not clear at that point whether the man got tangled up in the lake’s lily pads or if he had a medical emergency, Lowe said, but the victim began calling for help.

Paddle boarders nearby heard the man’s cries and were able to pull him onto a board and begin administering CPR, Hynes said. South County Fire crews used a rescue boat to reach the victim and they continued CPR, but weren’t able to revive the victim, she added.

According to Lowe, neither drugs nor alcohol were involved in the incident. Hynes said the Snohomish County Medical Examiner will determine official cause and manner of death. It wasn’t clear whether the victim was wearing a floatation device.

Lake Ballinger is located between the cities of Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds, just north of Shoreline.