Thousands pay final respects to fallen Pierce County deputy

TACOMA — Thousands of police, firefighters and members of the public paid their last respects to slain Pierce County sheriff's deputy Kent Mundell Jr. during an emotional memorial service at the Tacoma Dome.

Officers from Canada and Oregon as well as those from dozens of Washington state law enforcement agencies attended the service for Mundell, the region's third public police memorial since early November.

"He was such a very special person," Patricia Stafford, Deputy Mundell's mother, told the Tacoma Dome crowd estimated at between 6,800 and 7,000. "Kent was not only my son, but my joy."

Stafford said that her son was well aware of the risks of his job.

"He understood the price he might have been called upon to pay," said Stafford, who drew a standing ovation from the crowd.

"These have been dark days of late," added Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy. "We all feel it."

Thousands of people braved a steady drizzle to line the procession route before the memorial service. Approximately 1,000 vehicles representing 160 law enforcement and firefighting agencies took part in the procession, which led from the Puyallup Fair and Events Center to the Tacoma Dome.

Students from Kalles Junior High School of Puyallup were among about 1,000 students lined up near the school.

"The police risk their lives for us," said student Ryan Ball, 14, explaining why he stood along the route.

Fellow Kalles student Ethan Christensen, 15, noted the deaths of six Western Washington law-enforcement officers since Oct. 31. "We're just gratified they paid the ultimate sacrifice," he said.

Joshua Neighbarger, another Kalles student, stood at attention in a short-sleeved polo shirt during the entire hour it took the procession to pass. Neighbarger, the son of a military veteran, said he was there to show his respect.

Police and emergency vehicles escorted several white limousines that contained the family of Deputy Mundell, including his wife Lisa, and two children, a daughter, 16, and a son, 10. A white hearse carrying the slain deputy's body arrived at the Tacoma Dome at around 11 a.m.

Large American flags were held aloft by two fire department ladder trucks at the start of the procession route and outside the Tacoma Dome.

The memorial is the third since early November to honor fallen police officers in the region, coming after the Oct. 31 fatal shooting of Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton and the killings of four Lakewood police officers on Nov. 29.

Mundell, 44, was shot Dec. 21 while responding to a domestic-violence call outside Eatonville, Pierce County. He died a week later at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Tiffany Carlton, 28, her husband and their two young sons were among those who stood along the procession route. She said she attended the memorial procession for the four slain Lakewood officers as well.

"It's heartbreaking, what's happening right now," Carlton said of the officers' deaths. She held an umbrella, an American flag and her sleeping six-month-old son.

Explorer Scout Kyle Tanner, 20, helped with crowd control outside the Tacoma Dome. Tanner also worked during the memorial service for the four Lakewood police officers.

"It seems sadder, maybe because it's another add-on to all the officers who died," said Tanner, part of the Tacoma Police Department's Explorer program.

Lisa Brenton, widow of slain Seattle officer Timothy Brenton, was among the thousands who attended today's service. She said it was "important" for her and her two children to be at the service to show their support.

A 10-year veteran of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, Deputy Mundell was shot multiple times after he and his partner, Sgt. Nick Hausner, 43, responded to a complaint from a caller, Jason Crable, to remove an "unwanted guest" from a house near Tanwax Lake, about 7 miles north of Eatonville and about 18 miles south of Puyallup.

Crable had wanted his brother, David E. Crable, who was drunk, removed from the home.

When the deputies arrived, Jason Crable invited them in. They talked with David Crable, who seemed cooperative, and he agreed to leave the home with the deputies, according to sheriff's officials.

But before they left, David Crable suddenly pulled a gun concealed under his arm and started shooting.

Deputy Mundell returned fire and killed David Crable, but not before the deputy himself was critically injured, sheriff's officials said. Deputy Mundell was flown to Harborview, and law-enforcement personnel from numerous departments, in a show of support for Deputy Mundell and his family, stood vigil at the hospital until he died.

Hausner, who also was shot, was treated at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis before he was released Dec. 24 and spent a portion of that day visiting Deputy Mundell.

Mundell's death shook people already reeling from the killings of Officer Brenton and the Lakewood officers.

Brenton was shot while sitting in his patrol car with his partner, who was injured. A Tukwila man, Christopher Monfort, has been charged in the shootings.

The four Lakewood police officers — Mark Renninger, Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Gregory Richards — were shot while working on their laptops at a Parkland coffee shop, preparing to begin their day shifts.

The gunman, Maurice Clemmons, was killed two days later by a Seattle police officer after a manhunt.

Deputy Mundell loved the active life, according to his friends and family.

"He wasn't a guy who was going to sit at a desk. He was wired as a thrill-seeker," his stepbrother Mark Stafford said the day after Mundell was shot. .

Deputy Mundell gave up a comfortable career in manufacturing when he was in his mid-30s to become a Pierce County sheriff's deputy, his stepbrother said.

"He wanted to get the bad guy," said Stafford, 38, who referred to Deputy Mundell as "my brother."

Seattle Times staff reporters Steve Miletich, Christine Clarridge and Jennifer Sullivan contributed to this report, which includes information from Times archives.