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    Thursday, May 09, 2024

    Police: Suspect in Tacoma officer's death shot and killed

    A law enforcement officer salutes as viewed through the windshield of a Tacoma Fire Department ambulance as the body of a Tacoma Police officer who was shot and killed while answering a domestic violence call Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016, is placed in the vehicle for a procession away from Tacoma General Hospital, in Tacoma, Wash. Tacoma Police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said the officer was pronounced dead at the hospital Wednesday evening. "We've suffered a great loss and I think the community has suffered a great loss. I don't know how to put that into words," Cool said. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

    SEATTLE — The suspect in the fatal shooting of a Tacoma officer has been shot and killed by police after a lengthy barricade situation, authorities said early Thursday.

    Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer says the suspect was shot at approximately 3:30 a.m. Thursday, ending an 11-hour standoff. The suspect has not been identified.

    Troyer says a girl and a boy, found unharmed, have been taken from the house. He says officers found multiple weapons in the house.

    Earlier, the neighborhood had been locked down while officers from multiple agencies worked to bring about a peaceful resolution.

    Before the standoff began, a Tacoma officer was shot multiple times while answering a domestic violence call Wednesday. The officer has not been identified.

    Tacoma Police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said the officer was pronounced dead at the hospital after nightfall.

    "We've suffered a great loss and I think the community has suffered a great loss. I don't know how to put that into words," Cool said.

    After the death of the officer, a procession of law enforcement officers from around the region escorted the body from the hospital to the county medical examiner's office.

    Cool said police responded to the home Wednesday afternoon in the 400 block of East 52nd Street and that shortly after arriving, officers called for backup.

    Reacting to shots fired, arriving officers entered the home and managed to get the wounded officer outside and to a hospital, Cool said. She had said the officer had been undergoing surgery before the death was announced.

    It wasn't immediately clear what led up to the shooting.

    In a statement, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said he and his wife Trudi were sending their thoughts and prayers to the family and loved ones of the officer.

    "All of Washington grieves with Tacoma, which tonight lost one of their finest. Our hearts are with the men and women of the Tacoma Police Department, their families, and their brothers and sisters in law enforcement across Washington."

    Law enforcement officers stand by command vehicles on East 52nd Street in Tacoma, Wash., in the early hours of Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, near the home where a Tacoma Police officer was fatally shot Wednesday. The police officer who was shot multiple times while responding to a domestic violence call died Wednesday night, while police worked to arrest a suspect they believed was still barricaded in the home with a gun, authorities said. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
    Motorcycle law enforcement officers lead a procession away from Tacoma General Hospital of an ambulance bearing the body of a Tacoma Police officer who was shot and killed while answering a domestic violence call Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016, in Tacoma, Wash. Tacoma Police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said the officer was pronounced dead at the hospital Wednesday evening. "We've suffered a great loss and I think the community has suffered a great loss. I don't know how to put that into words," Cool said. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
    Police stand by a distraught Kristi Croskey at the scene where a Tacoma Police officer was shot while responding to a domestic call in East Tacoma, Wash., Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. Croskey was in the house with the shooter and fled. KCPQ-TV reports an officer was taken to a Tacoma hospital Wednesday after the incident at about 5:30 p.m. (Peter Haley/The News Tribune via AP)

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