Another Tragedy

Last night there was a domestic violence call from a rural home near the town of Eatonville (south east of where I live but in the same county). Two Pierce County Sheriff deputies answered the call and where asked by the man who answered the door to remove his brother, who was an unwelcome guest and was also violating a protection order that was in place, in regards to his 15 year old daughter who was living at the house with her uncle.

The man, who apparently has a long history of offenses, agreed to leave but said he needed to get some things. He left the room, came back into the room with a back pack and unfortunately a gun. He shot both deputies, one multiple times however one of the deputies was able to return fire and mortally wounded the man. The other man and the deceased man's 15 year old daughter were uninjured and able to give medical assistance to the injured deputies until help arrived.

The most severely injured deputy was air lifted to Harborview Hospital in Seattle and the other one was taken by ambulance to Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis. This morning the latest report was that the deputy at Madigan was doing well and would perhaps be released in the next couple days. However, the other deputy, Kent Mundell, is in very serious condition and on life support at Harborview.

Once again, both of these dear men are married and have children. This area is barely beginning the healing process after the shooting of 4 Lakewood police officers, November 29th and the Halloween night shooting of a Seattle officer.

There are so many prayer needs here; the wounded officers and their families, the brother of the deceased man, the 15 year old daughter, who was living away from her father and was under a protection order but still witnessed the shooting and death of her father and the officers and first responders who once again were called to the scene of another "Officer Down" call.