Monday, December 28, 2009
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY / SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
A Pierce County Sheriff's deputy who was shot last week while responding to a domestic violence dispute in Eatonville died Monday at Harborview Medical Center.
Walter Kent Mundell Jr. died at 5:04 p.m., about an hour after being taken off life support, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. Mundell was 44.
Troyer said Mundell died with his wife Lisa at his side. His children, a 16-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, had spent time with him during the afternoon, and were being consoled by family and friends.
"Obviously everybody was waiting for a miracle, and it didn't come," Troyer said. "The fact that he survived as long as he did is amazing, and that's why, I think, people were hoping for a miracle. But it just wasn't meant to be. The wounds were too severe, and he has passed on."
His death is Washington's seventh law enforcement line-of-duty death this year, and sixth fatal shooting since Oct. 31.
Troyer said a memorial for Mundell was tentatively scheduled for Jan. 5 in the Tacoma Dome.
"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," Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a statement. "I stand with law enforcement from across the state as we honor this fallen hero."
Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said the whole department has been shaken by the loss.
READ MORE ABOUT THE TRAGIC LOSS OF OFFICER KENT MUNDELL, JR http://www.seattlepi.com/local/413634_deputy26.html