A Tacoma, Washington, police officer was killed Wednesday night and the man suspected of shooting him also was killed following an hours-long standoff with police where he used two children as human shields.
The police officer, identified by KING5 News as Reginald "Jake" Gutierrez, was shot multiple times while responding to a domestic disturbance.
It's unclear why the officer, who was transported the hospital but declared dead around 9 p.m., was shot.
When police learned the man who shot Gutierrez was holding two children inside the home, they tried to negotiate with him into the night.
Finally, after negotiations failed, police entered the home and grabbed one of the two children as the suspect grabbed the other. When the sheriff’s deputy saw a shot, he took it, killing the suspect without harming the other child, Fox News reported.
“We didn’t want the kids to get hurt on top of everything that happened. ... The suspect’s deceased. The kids are safe. That’s really what we’re thankful for,” said Pierce County Detective Ed Troyer, CNN reported.
Gutierrez was 45 years old and joined the Tacoma Police Department in 1999.
"He's a model police officer. He's highly dedicated to his profession. He's highly dedicated to his community. And he demonstrated that every day that he came to work," Ramsdell said, KING5 reported.
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