Deputy released from hospital; visiting wounded partner

Pierce County sheriff's Sgt. Nick Hausner has been released from a hospital and paid a visit to fellow Deputy Kent Mundell at Harborview Medical Center.

Both men were wounded Monday in a shootout with David E. Crable, who was killed by gunfire.

Hausner was released from Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis this morning and was driven to the Seattle hospital to visit with Mundell, who is in critical condition in the intensive care unit, said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer. He said Hausner then planned to go home, where he will require additional medical care.

As details on what happened inside the Eatonville-area home where the shooting took place are pieced together, Troyer said it has become clear that Crable's 16-year-old daughter may have saved Hausner's life. The girl watched her father shoot Mundell several times and then shoot Hausner. At some point she jumped on her father and dragged him to the ground, keeping him from shooting Hausner again, Troyer said.

The girl then ran outside and called for help. Crable never got up again after she knocked him down.

Today, the Sheriff's Office, Nordstrom and Toys For Tots will be giving the girl Christmas gifts, Troyer said. "She's absolutely a hero, but she's a victim too. She didn't choose her family," he added.