PilotAlan
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PilotAlan
He sounds like a man who loved life and lived every minute of it. My condolences to the family.
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Deputy shot near Eatonville removed from life support, dead at 44
Pierce County sheriff's deputy Kent Mundell Jr. has died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Deputy Mundell, 44, was one of two deputies shot while responding to a domestic-violence call last Monday night outside Eatonville, Pierce County.
By Seattle Times staff
Pierce County sheriff's deputy Kent Mundell Jr. was removed from life support and died today at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
His death was announced by Sgt. Ed Troyer, Pierce County sheriff's spokesman, during a news conference outside the hospital. He said Mundell was taken off life support earlier today and died a short time later, at 5:04 p.m., with his wife by his side.
"Obviously, everybody was waiting for a miracle," Troyer said.
Deputy Mundell, 44, was one of two deputies shot while responding to a domestic-violence call last Monday night outside Eatonville, Pierce County.
A 10-year veteran of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, Deputy Mundell, of the Spanaway area, leaves behind his wife, Lisa, and two children, 16 and 10.
Troyer said the memorial service for Mundell is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 5 at the Tacoma Dome.
"All of us suffered a tremendous loss because of who this man was," said Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor. "None of us is doing well."
Gov. Chris Gregoire issued the following statement: "Though his life was cut far too short by this act of violence, his memory will live on in the many people he protected and served. I stand with law enforcement from across the state as we honor this fallen hero."
Deputy Mundell was shot multiple times after he and his partner, Sgt. Nick Hausner, 43, responded to a call to remove an "unwanted guest" from a house near Tanwax Lake, about seven miles north of Eatonville and about 18 miles south of Puyallup.
Jason Crable had wanted his brother, David E. Crable, who was drunk, removed from the home.
When the deputies arrived, Jason Crable invited them in. They talked with David Crable, who seemed cooperative, and he agreed to leave the home with the deputies, according to sheriff's officials.
But before they left, David Crable suddenly pulled a gun he'd concealed under his arm and started shooting.
Deputy Mundell returned fire and killed David Crable, but not before the deputy himself was critically injured, the sheriff's officials said. Deputy Mundell was flown to Harborview Medical Center.
Hausner was shot as well and sent to Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis. He was released from the hospital on Thursday morning and spent a portion of that day visiting Mundell.
Law-enforcement personnel have been standing vigil all week at Harborview, a show of support for Deputy Mundell and his family.
Deputy Mundell is the sixth law-enforcement officer to be killed in the Puget Sound area in the past eight weeks.
On Oct. 31, Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton was fatally shot while sitting in his patrol car with his partner, who was injured. A Tukwila man, Christopher Monfort, has been charged in the shootings.
Then on the morning of Nov. 29, four Lakewood police officers — Mark Renninger, Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards — were fatally shot at a coffee shop in Parkland by Maurice Clemmons. Clemmons was killed a few days later by a police officer in Seattle after a manhunt.
A family man who loved the outdoors
Deputy Mundell loved the active life, according to his friends and family.
"He wasn't a guy who was going to sit at a desk. He was wired as a thrill-seeker," his stepbrother Mark Stafford, said last week.
Police work was not Deputy Mundell's first career.
He gave up a job in manufacturing when he was in his mid-30s to become a Pierce County sheriff's deputy, his stepbrother said.
"He wanted to get the bad guy," said Stafford, 38, who refers to Mundell as "my brother."
Stafford, who works for Tacoma Public Works, said he learned the morning after the shootings that Deputy Mundell was fighting for his life at Harborview.
Stafford said he first got to know Deputy Mundell, who was about six years older, when he was growing up in the South Hill area of Puyallup.
They were friends then, years before Stafford's father, Patrick, and Deputy Mundell's mother, Patricia, married in the mid-1980s.
After the marriage, Stafford said, he and his new stepbrother became close when they were young adults.
For the past 10 years, they had traveled every August to lakes in Eastern Washington or Idaho with other family members for camping trips, where they would go boating and wakeboarding.
Deputy Mundell lived for those adventures, Stafford said.
"His motto was: 'If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.' That's how he lived his life," Stafford said.
Deputy Mundell, who married his high-school sweetheart more than 20 years ago, also doted on his daughter, 16, and son, 10, Stafford said earlier this week.
Deputy Mundell also became a licensed pilot. He bought a plane after renting one, and he also was a sky diver, Stafford said.
Patricia Stafford, Deputy Mundell's mother, said Tuesday that more than a decade ago her son announced he wanted to become a sheriff's deputy.
"He surprised us very much with that decision," she said.
Still, it made sense, knowing him. "He always liked the things that maybe made other people afraid," she said.
"He was always the kid who would take up the new sport and just excel at it, whether it was dirt-bike riding or skiing, kite boarding, jet skiing. He was always just lunging ahead with a sense of adventure and daring."
Deputy Mundell's stepmother, Dorene Mundell, of Belton, Texas, said Tuesday that she and her husband got a phone call at midnight, informing them of the shooting.
She thought it was a bad dream.
"I said, 'I think you have the wrong number,' " Mundell recalled.
"We're all just numb," she said. "And in shock. I'm sure strong emotions will follow."
Dorene Mundell described her stepson as "one of the best fathers I have ever seen in my life."
Deputy Mundell also was close with his larger family. Dorene said when she and Kent Mundell Sr. married six years ago, they brought together their families, with their own grown children and grandchildren.
"He seemed so happy for all of us to be welcomed into his side of the family," Dorene said Tuesday. "My daughters loved him. My only grandson calls him Uncle Kent, and I'm about to cry talking about it."
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Deputy shot near Eatonville removed from life support, dead at 44
Pierce County sheriff's deputy Kent Mundell Jr. has died at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Deputy Mundell, 44, was one of two deputies shot while responding to a domestic-violence call last Monday night outside Eatonville, Pierce County.
By Seattle Times staff
Pierce County sheriff's deputy Kent Mundell Jr. was removed from life support and died today at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
His death was announced by Sgt. Ed Troyer, Pierce County sheriff's spokesman, during a news conference outside the hospital. He said Mundell was taken off life support earlier today and died a short time later, at 5:04 p.m., with his wife by his side.
"Obviously, everybody was waiting for a miracle," Troyer said.
Deputy Mundell, 44, was one of two deputies shot while responding to a domestic-violence call last Monday night outside Eatonville, Pierce County.
A 10-year veteran of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, Deputy Mundell, of the Spanaway area, leaves behind his wife, Lisa, and two children, 16 and 10.
Troyer said the memorial service for Mundell is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 5 at the Tacoma Dome.
"All of us suffered a tremendous loss because of who this man was," said Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor. "None of us is doing well."
Gov. Chris Gregoire issued the following statement: "Though his life was cut far too short by this act of violence, his memory will live on in the many people he protected and served. I stand with law enforcement from across the state as we honor this fallen hero."
Deputy Mundell was shot multiple times after he and his partner, Sgt. Nick Hausner, 43, responded to a call to remove an "unwanted guest" from a house near Tanwax Lake, about seven miles north of Eatonville and about 18 miles south of Puyallup.
Jason Crable had wanted his brother, David E. Crable, who was drunk, removed from the home.
When the deputies arrived, Jason Crable invited them in. They talked with David Crable, who seemed cooperative, and he agreed to leave the home with the deputies, according to sheriff's officials.
But before they left, David Crable suddenly pulled a gun he'd concealed under his arm and started shooting.
Deputy Mundell returned fire and killed David Crable, but not before the deputy himself was critically injured, the sheriff's officials said. Deputy Mundell was flown to Harborview Medical Center.
Hausner was shot as well and sent to Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis. He was released from the hospital on Thursday morning and spent a portion of that day visiting Mundell.
Law-enforcement personnel have been standing vigil all week at Harborview, a show of support for Deputy Mundell and his family.
Deputy Mundell is the sixth law-enforcement officer to be killed in the Puget Sound area in the past eight weeks.
On Oct. 31, Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton was fatally shot while sitting in his patrol car with his partner, who was injured. A Tukwila man, Christopher Monfort, has been charged in the shootings.
Then on the morning of Nov. 29, four Lakewood police officers — Mark Renninger, Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards — were fatally shot at a coffee shop in Parkland by Maurice Clemmons. Clemmons was killed a few days later by a police officer in Seattle after a manhunt.
A family man who loved the outdoors
Deputy Mundell loved the active life, according to his friends and family.
"He wasn't a guy who was going to sit at a desk. He was wired as a thrill-seeker," his stepbrother Mark Stafford, said last week.
Police work was not Deputy Mundell's first career.
He gave up a job in manufacturing when he was in his mid-30s to become a Pierce County sheriff's deputy, his stepbrother said.
"He wanted to get the bad guy," said Stafford, 38, who refers to Mundell as "my brother."
Stafford, who works for Tacoma Public Works, said he learned the morning after the shootings that Deputy Mundell was fighting for his life at Harborview.
Stafford said he first got to know Deputy Mundell, who was about six years older, when he was growing up in the South Hill area of Puyallup.
They were friends then, years before Stafford's father, Patrick, and Deputy Mundell's mother, Patricia, married in the mid-1980s.
After the marriage, Stafford said, he and his new stepbrother became close when they were young adults.
For the past 10 years, they had traveled every August to lakes in Eastern Washington or Idaho with other family members for camping trips, where they would go boating and wakeboarding.
Deputy Mundell lived for those adventures, Stafford said.
"His motto was: 'If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.' That's how he lived his life," Stafford said.
Deputy Mundell, who married his high-school sweetheart more than 20 years ago, also doted on his daughter, 16, and son, 10, Stafford said earlier this week.
Deputy Mundell also became a licensed pilot. He bought a plane after renting one, and he also was a sky diver, Stafford said.
Patricia Stafford, Deputy Mundell's mother, said Tuesday that more than a decade ago her son announced he wanted to become a sheriff's deputy.
"He surprised us very much with that decision," she said.
Still, it made sense, knowing him. "He always liked the things that maybe made other people afraid," she said.
"He was always the kid who would take up the new sport and just excel at it, whether it was dirt-bike riding or skiing, kite boarding, jet skiing. He was always just lunging ahead with a sense of adventure and daring."
Deputy Mundell's stepmother, Dorene Mundell, of Belton, Texas, said Tuesday that she and her husband got a phone call at midnight, informing them of the shooting.
She thought it was a bad dream.
"I said, 'I think you have the wrong number,' " Mundell recalled.
"We're all just numb," she said. "And in shock. I'm sure strong emotions will follow."
Dorene Mundell described her stepson as "one of the best fathers I have ever seen in my life."
Deputy Mundell also was close with his larger family. Dorene said when she and Kent Mundell Sr. married six years ago, they brought together their families, with their own grown children and grandchildren.
"He seemed so happy for all of us to be welcomed into his side of the family," Dorene said Tuesday. "My daughters loved him. My only grandson calls him Uncle Kent, and I'm about to cry talking about it."
