Too close for comfort (scary shootings in my home town)

[StorminN]

This past Saturday, we had some unwanted excitement in my normally quiet small town.

In the National Forest in the hills west of my house, a Forest Service officer pulled over an old Dodge van that had no license plates. The Forest Service officer that pulled him over called in his name, and a couple of minutes later, when dispatch tried to get back to her with the info, she didn't respond. Dispatch sent deputies up there, and they found her (the Forest Service officer) dead from gunshot wound(s). Police started a manhunt, they blocked off all the roads leading out of the woods. They found the suspect's van a couple of hours later, he had ditched it in the woods up there. The suspect then walked to a random person's house, shot the man there, and stole his pickup... this is on the ridge across the bay from my house.

A couple of hours later, the suspect was spotted at the new, fancy convenience store / gas station that's located next to the indian casino about 3/4 of a mile from my house. Police responded within a minute, and when the suspect exited the store, they told him to stop and put his hands up. Supposedly, he looked at them, but kept walking and appeared to reach for a weapon. The two deputies put nine rounds in him and ended it all right there.

Originally, the reports said that the suspect had shot at the deputies first, but security camera video footage was released this morning, and it doesn't appear as though the suspect fired shots at the deputies.

Here's a link to the security video of it... be warned, it's graphic in that it shows the whole event.
KIRO News video

The "too close for comfort" part is that my girlfriend and I were in that same store just minutes before the suspect was... when we left the store, the casino shuttle bus had just pulled into the gas pump closest to the store. That bus was still there when the suspect was shot, you can see it in the video. In fact, it was the driver of that bus... a security guard from the casino, who ID'ed the guy and called 911 and got the police there pronto.

Spooky...

-Norm.

[Tom]

I feel bad for the Forestry Service Officer and the man who lost his life when his car was stolen, but have no sympathy for the man (animal) who did the deed.  Good for those who settled the problem then and there.  They saved the taxpayers the cost of a trial.   

I'm sure there will be people who will try to give Law enforcement a bad time over it.  I hope the citizens stand up for the Police and Security Guard. .......vocally.

[StorminN]

I'm sure there will be people who will try to give Law enforcement a bad time over it.  I hope the citizens stand up for the Police and Security Guard. .......vocally.

Tom, I have yet to hear anyone say anything negative about the officers' handling of the situation... all the comments I've heard have been of the "good to get it done there & then", or "they saved the taxpayers a trial and jail costs".

However... the night it happened, it was reported that it was a "shootout", and the suspect fired two shots at the deputies. Then the next morning, it was reported that he fired one shot. Now they released the video and it doesn't appear that he fired any shots... he just didn't stop and put his hands up, he kept walking. The State Patrol says they found one 9mm casing at the scene, (presumably from the suspect) while the officers fired .223 and .40 caliber...

It will be interesting to see the fallout, and I'm glad they got the right guy.

-N.

[maestro]

He pulled a gun on 2 officers.  They are within their legal right to use lethal force.  There almost can't be any fallout over this. 

[easymoney]

they saved the taxpayers more than the cost of a trial. think what it would have cost to feed and house him for the rest of his life had he lived. >:( and all the appeals that some sleasy lawyer would file while billing the state. :