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U.S. NEWS Friday 2 december 2016
‘A clear shot’ - police kill suspect, rescue children

MARTHA BELLISLE “They said they just want-
LISA BAUMANN ed to talk to him and then
Associated Press gunfire started, they didn’t
SEATTLE (AP) — A Wash- start it,” Croskey told the A procession of law en-
ington state police officer station. Reacting to the forcement officers escort-
responding to a domestic shots fired, officers entered ed the officer’s body from
violence call was fatally the home and managed the hospital to the county
shot and his fellow officers to get the wounded officer medical examiner’s office.
were still “taking fire” as outside and to a hospital, Washington Gov. Jay In-
they removed him from a Cool said. Gutierrez died slee said “all of Washing-
home, beginning an 11- Wednesday night after un- ton grieves with Tacoma,
hour standoff during which dergoing surgery. which tonight lost one of
authorities say the gunman “We’ve suffered a great their finest.”
used two young children loss and I think the com- The shooting remains un-
as human shields. munity has suffered a great der investigation by multi-
The fallen officer, Regi- loss. I don’t know how to ple agencies, including the
nald “Jake” Gutierrez, had put that into words,” Cool FBI and the Pierce County
served with the depart- said. Prosecutor’s Office, which
ment since 1999 and was The shooting sparked an will review material to be
highly respected and ex- outpouring of support from sure that the police fol-
perienced, Tacoma Police the community and public lowed their policies in re-
Chief Donald Ramsdell told Loretta Cool, spokeswoman for the Tacoma Police Department, talks to reporters in front of a large officials, who left flowers at sponding to the incident.
reporters Thursday. replica of a police badge with a mourning band on it, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, at the Tacoma Po- the front of the police de-
Dozens of officers had lice Department headquarters in Tacoma, Wash. A Tacoma Police officer died Wednesday night partment, under a large
surrounded the home in at a hospital after being shot multiple times earlier in the day while answering a domestic violence police badge carried a
Tacoma on Wednesday call. black ribbon across the
night, urging nearby resi- (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) center.q
dents of the working class that led to the standoff.
neighborhood of single- “We had an officer down
family homes to shelter in and shots still firing at the
place. time,” Cool said. Police
Early Thursday, authorities managed to get the offi-
say a deputy got “a clear cer out “but they were still
shot” and killed the sus- taking fire,” she said.
pect as officers rescued Officers didn’t immediately
an 8-year-old girl and a know there were children
6-year-old boy. in the house and became
Pierce County sheriff’s aware of their presence
spokesman Ed Troyer said during the standoff, she
the gunman had refused said.
to surrender during nego- “When they were able to
tiations. His name was not rescue the boy, there was
released. an opening to rescue the
“We were able to get the girl,” Cool said. “That pro-
suspect cornered and voked the shot to take the
trapped, even though he suspect out.”
had two kids,” Troyer said. Authorities discovered mul-
“We had a SWAT mem- tiple weapons inside the
ber who had a clear shot. house but did not describe
We fired one round, which them in detail. Few details
struck him.” were released about the
Ramsdell said the incident treatment of the children
began Wednesday after- by the suspect.
noon when animal control Ramsdell said the suspect
officers working near the did not have a “serious
house were approached background in regards to
by a woman who said her criminal history” but there
husband had locked her may have been issues with
out and taken her phone. mental illness.
The officers called police. Kristi Croskey, who rented
Gutierrez and his female the house to the suspect
partner went into the and his wife, was inside
home, and Gutierrez was the home at the time and
shot as he reached the top barricaded herself in the
of the stairs to speak with bathroom before she was
the suspect, Ramsdell said. able to escape, KOMO-TV
The female officer shot (http://bit.ly/2gYPKJb ) re-
back and ran from the ported.
house, taking the wife to She said police came to
safety. the residence because the
Tacoma police spokes- suspect was fighting with
woman Loretta Cool de- his wife and refused to let
scribed the hectic scene her back inside.