A 74-year-old woman drove through the store, killing Sheila Stanton, a well known community volunteer.
KIRKLAND, Wash — A beloved community figure is being remembered after a car crashed into a Kirkland Grocery Outlet on Sunday, killing her and injury three others.
Kirkland police say the driver, a 74-year-old woman, smashed through the store’s front entrance at the Bridle Trails Shopping center before 2 p.m. Investigators are still working to determine the cause.
The driver, who was among the injured, is not being detained at this time. Police are reviewing surveillance footage and awaiting the results of her blood tests.
Two other people – a mother and her child – were also hurt. All three injured individuals, including the driver, are expected to recover from non-life-threatening injuries.
The woman killed in the crash has been identified as Sheila Stanton, a fixture in Kirkland’s volunteer community.
She was an active member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, where she hosted a monthly community dinner to the hungry in partnership with a Muslim community group.
“Initially, we thought she had just been badly injured,” said Michael Ryan, a priest at St John’s. “It was a gut punch for me, for everyone. Everyone in this community.”
“Sheila would’ve been the first person to reach out to the elderly woman who hit her, just to see if she was doing okay. That’s the kind of person she was,” he said.
Sheila also belonged to the Kirkland Eagles, a volunteer-focused club.
“If the dictionary had a picture of what a ray of sunshine looks like, Sheila’s picture would be there. She’s just happy all the time, always smiling. If you know her, you totally get it,” a Lisa La Fontaine, a friend and Kirkland Eagles member, said.
Professionally, Sheila was a bailiff and served as a commissioner with the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs, a role to which she was reappointed to in January.
She lived in Kirkland for 35 years.
“She is a community leader in every sense of the word,” Ryan said.
The Grocery Outlet remains closed indefinitely as crews repair damage and investigators continued their work.
