Wounded deputies called family men, good officers

A Pierce County sheriff's deputy severely wounded during a domestic violence call is a family man who loves adventure and gave up a comfortable career in manufacturing to enter law enforcement, friends and family say.

Kent Mundell Jr. was in critical condition Wednesday at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said. He and sheriff's Sgt. Nick Hausner were wounded Monday night by a man who was killed in the shootout as the two officers were trying to remove him from his brother's home near Eatonville. Police identified the gunman as David E. Crable, 35, who they say had a history of domestic violence.

Hausner, 43, recovering from his injuries at Madigan Army Medical Center south of Tacoma, is doing well but is worried about Mundell, said family member Larry Erb, who spent time with him on Tuesday.

"I saw Nick this morning; he's in good spirits," Erb told The Seattle Times. "He's looking fine. He's actually more worried about his partner than himself."

Relatives and fellow officers gathered at Harborview, where Mundell, 44, is in the intensive-care unit with life-threatening injuries.

His stepbrother, Larry Stafford, told The Times he felt "emptiness, sick to my stomach" when he heard Mundell had been hurt.

Mundell, who lives near Puyallup, loves camping, boating and outdoor sports, Stafford said, and is a licensed pilot who owned a plane and has skydived.

"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.

Mundell married his high-school sweetheart, Lisa, more than 20 years ago, and dotes on her, his 16-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, his stepbrother said.

In the 1990s, Mundell worked for a window and door company, becoming a midlevel manager, family members said. But he quit that job to become a sheriff's deputy.

"He wasn't a guy who was going to sit at a desk," Stafford said. "He was wired as a thrill-seeker."

Mundell "always liked the things that maybe made other people afraid," said his mother, Pat Stafford.

"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," she said. "He was always just lunging ahead with a sense of adventure and daring."

"He's one of the best fathers I have ever seen in my life," she added. "That has nothing to do with his being hurt today. I would have told you that a week ago or a month ago."

Mundell's stepmother, Dorene Mundell, of Belton, Texas, said she and her husband, Kent Sr., got a phone call at midnight Monday, telling them of the shooting. At first she couldn't believe it.

"I said, 'I think you have the wrong number.'"

Mundell loves his wife and children and is close to his extended family, she said.

"He seemed so happy for all of us to be welcomed into his side of the family," Dorene Mundell said. "My daughters loved him. My only grandson calls him Uncle Kent, and I'm about to cry talking about it."

Monday's shootings occurred just over three weeks after four Lakewood police officers were shot to death in Pierce County. Suspect Maurice Clemmons was shot and killed by a Seattle police officer two days later.

A month earlier, Seattle Officer Timothy Brenton was killed and his partner wounded as they sat in a patrol car Halloween night. Christopher Monfort, 41, has been charged with aggravated first-degree murder in Brenton's death.

Many Lakewood police officers are friends with Mundell and Hausner. Lakewood Police Chief Brett Farrar, who worked in the sheriff's department with Hausner for 15 years, said he is known for his patience and skill as a trainer for fellow officers.

"He is a good deputy. A smart, sharp guy and a good family man," Farrar said.

Hausner lives in Eatonville with his wife, Melanie, and two children, ages 14 and 12.

"He's a real family guy, a real salt-of-the-earth person who would help anybody," said Erb, Melanie's uncle. "He's a throwback to the good old days when families were close-knit and tight."

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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com