Two Pierce County sheriff's deputies were shot and badly injured Monday night while responding to a domestic violence call north of Eatonville, a sheriff's spokesman said.
The gunman, identified as David E. Crable, 35, was shot to death by the two officers after he opened fire on them, according to Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer.
One of the officers, a veteran sergeant, was seriously injured but was expected to survive. He was taken to Madigan Army Medical Center, where he was listed in serious condition, Troyer said.
The other officer, a deputy, was hit multiple times in the exchange of gunfire and suffered “life-threatening injuries.”
He was airlifted to the trauma center at Harborview Hospital in Seattle, where he was listed in critical condition.
At some point during the confrontation, two people in the home attempted to treat one of the wounded officers’ injuries, Troyer said.
The shooting happened about 9 p.m. and brought dozens of officers to the scene, in an isolated, heavily treed area near the southwest corner of Lake Tanwax.
The two officers were answering a call about an unwanted person in a house and arrived in separate patrol cars. They were met at the front door by one of two brothers, Troyer said, and were invited in.
When they entered the house, the second brother, David Crable, opened fire and hit both officers, Troyer said.
“He knew we were coming and hid himself” and then opened fire, Troyer said.
The deputies returned fire, killing the man, he added.
“A lot of rounds were fired,” Troyer said.
The dead man was well known to county officers, who had been to the location several times previously to answer domestic violence complaints by members of Crable’s family.
In June of this year, he was convicted of displaying a weapon with the intent to intimidate and malicious mischief in the third degree. He also had a series of arrests over the last decade, for assault, domestic violence assault and malicious mischief.
Last month, he was arrested by Pierce County officers on suspicion of driving under the influence. What role the other residents of the house, including David Crable’s teenage daughter, had in Monday night’s events was still being determined.
“We don’t know the history of the residents of the house,” Troyer said, but detectives on the scene expected to have some answers by morning.
“Domestic violence calls are dangerous, and you can only go by the best information that is given to you over the phone,” Troyer said.
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