2 sheriff's officers badly hurt in Wash. shooting

[DaveM55]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091222/...VyaWZmc29mZg--

EATONVILLE, Wash. – Two sheriff's officers responding to a dispute between two brothers were ambushed by one of the brothers lying in wait with a gun after being welcomed into the home by the other, authorities said. The gunman was killed and the officers were seriously wounded.

The shooting is the third in three months in which authorities say a gunman has taken aim at law enforcement officials in Washington state.

Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said a sergeant and a deputy were shot at around 8:45 p.m. Monday while responding to a dispute between David E. Crable and his brother near Eatonville, a rural community in the Cascade foothills.

Crable, 35, shot the two officers before he was killed when they returned fire, Troyer said. The names of the officers were not immediately released.

The officers were greeted at the door by Crable's brother, while Crable was in the house arming himself, Troyer said. When the deputies entered the house, Crable opened fire from upstairs, hitting one of the officers multiple times.

"This is somebody that was laying in wait for our guys, armed themselves, with the intent on shooting them," Troyer told reporters near the shooting scene. "There's not much we're going to be able to do when somebody is hiding and arming themselves and we have somebody else inviting us into the residence and the second person opens fire on us."

Crable's family tried to help the wounded officers by providing first aid and barricading themselves in a room away from the shooter, Troyer said.

"It looks like people that were in this residence went out of their way to help our people," he said.

The sergeant was taken to Madigan Army Medical Center and was listed in serious condition, Troyer said. The deputy was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and remained in critical condition in the intensive care unit, he said.

"Most people of the community as we have seen in the last few weeks have a tremendous regard for (law enforcement)," Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said at the scene late Monday night. "But there are people in the community that don't come from there, and that's the people we deal with day after day."

Pierce County sheriff's records show Crable was convicted earlier this year of exhibiting or displaying a weapon with intent to intimidate.

He also has been arrested for malicious mischief and assault and had a no-contact order by his 16-year-old daughter who lived with Crable's brother. Troyer said Crable had a history of "terrorizing" his family.

The Monday night shooting comes three weeks after four Lakewood police officers were shot and killed at a coffee shop before their shift. After a two-day manhunt, suspect Maurice Clemmons was shot to death by a Seattle police officer.

A month before, Seattle Officer Timothy Brenton was killed as he sat in his patrol car Halloween night. Christopher Monfort, 41, has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder in Brenton's death.

[pennsy]

Another blow to our 2A My thoughs and prayers for those two deputies and their families.

[DaveM55]

Washington officer wounded in ambush dies



http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...rshooting.html

One of two officers shot in an ambush last week by a drunken man in Washington state died Monday after being taken off life support, becoming the sixth police officer to die from gunfire in the state in less than two months.

Pierce County sheriff's Deputy Kent Mundell, 44, died with his family at his side shortly after 5 p.m., said sheriff's office spokesman Ed Troyer, tears welling up in his eyes.

"When they pulled the life support off of him, he went very quickly," Troyer said.

Police say David E. Crable, 35, shot Mundell and Sgt. Nick Hausner, 43, as the officers responded to a domestic disturbance call at the home of Crable's brother near Eatonville, in the Cascade foothills about 50 miles south of Seattle on Dec. 21. Family members called to have an intoxicated Crable removed.

Crable, who police said has a history of domestic violence, was killed in a subsequent shoot-out with Hausner and Mundell. Hausner recovered from his injury and visited Mundell on Christmas Eve. Troyer said Hausner, who is recovering at home, was notified of Mundell's death soon after it happened.

The shootings marked the third time in less than eight weeks that police officers in Washington state had been shot in the line of duty.

Four Lakewood officers were shot to death in a coffee shop as they did paperwork before their shift in late November. A Seattle police officer later fatally shot the suspect. A month earlier, on Halloween night, Seattle Officer Timothy Brenton was killed as he sat in his patrol car. The suspect in that shooting has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder.

Troyer said the decision to take Mundell off life support was made on Monday. Since the shooting, officers from around the region kept vigil at the hospital.

"We don't want to leave out what has happened here in the last month. There's a ton of families out there, a whole bunch of kids, a lot of widowed people out there because of has gone on in the state of Washington. Most law enforcement throughout Western Washington are grieving," Troyer said. "That's why they're here."

Troyer said a funeral has been tentatively planned for Jan. 5.

[DaveM55]

I never dreamed it would be me
My name for all eternity
Recorded here at this hallowed place
Alas, my name, no more my face

"In the line of duty" I hear them say
My family now the price will pay
My folded flag stained with their tears
We only had those few short years

The badge no longer on my chest
I sleep now in eternal rest
My sword I pass to those behind
And pray they keep this thought in mind

I never dreamed it would be me
And with heavy heart and bended knee
I ask for all here from the past
Dear God, let my name be the last