This is simply atrocious.

www.odmp.org/officer/21076-park-ranger-margaret-anderson

And the nutcase is still uncaught

Wow, sad day.

she was a mother of 2 young ones as well.....

I guess the nutcase is the suspect in a triple shooting that occured earlier that day, then he fled to the park.

Kinda scary considerinng there's a bunch of people still in the park and unaware they may encounter someone with a screw loose.

How could he have possibly "escaped"?? For F's sake, he was being pursued for some time, they had set up a "road block", et al. AND he's within the Park boundary.
Sure look forward to hearing/reading about this one. . . .<

Umph,

There is no fence that houses the "park boundary." He could walk in most any direction and remain unseen in the forest.

I think I read that the roadblock was unrelated to the shootings. Still I question whether Park Service law enforcement rangers, even if armed, are adequately prepared to pursue someone who runs a roadblock, rather than calling in the police. Latest news is that the guy killed himself.

Very sad, my heart goes out to her husband and kids. That poor guy was on duty and had to hear her on the radio after she had been shot. How gut wrenching.

I was pulled over by a park ranger in Rainer last year, they struck me as legit law enforcement, capable of the same expectations as other law enforcement agencies. A long ways from Smokey the Bear with a gun. She was a seasoned officer.

Life is precious. Enjoy it as you live it with an open and seeing heart and help others to do the same.

This innocent woman's family needs your thoughts, compassion, and prayers or reflections.

I'm so sorry for her loss.

I have friends that are Forest Service LEOs. Park Service is no different. For training they attend the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia for 4 months and then go in the field to train with other officers before going on their own. You'd be amazed at the crap they have to deal with. Booby trapped marijuana fields, meth labs, drunken hunters, militias are all a part of it. And the fact that they work alone in isolated areas makes them extremely aware of their surroundings.

So yes they are qualified to do law enforcement work. That is their job.

Sad day is right.

Poor kids and husband. This is absolutely terrible.

Gunman is dead.

www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57350970/body-found-believed-th>>>

"He apparently died after trudging into chest-deep snow while trying to elude snowshoe-wearing SWAT team members and other police who were on his trail."

Fitting end.

Without a doubt, the sickest part of this article:

"Unbeknownst to Ranger Anderson, the suspect was wanted for shooting four people in a nearby community the previous day."

Admittedly, the officer may have had her roadblock for something totally unrelated; for all I know it could have been something as benign as to prevent people from bringing wood out of the forest with them. However, the intra and inter agency communication needs to be at work here. First of all, if it was known by anyone in the state of Washington that a murderous gunman was on the loose, you'd think an all points bulletin would be sent out to all law enforcement with the pertinent information such as a physical description, vehicle, etc.

Secondly, if the Park Rangers had already attempted to stop this guy and he fled, you'd think that they would have let the other rangers in the park know, "Hey, guy who looks like BLANK driving a BLANK is on the run headed in BLANK direction." I'm not saying a more efficient distribution of this information necessarily would have changed the outcome, but am I the only one who sees a serious issue here? Not to turn this into a rant against law enforcement, but as the agencies charged with protecting the general population and enforcing the law, the ignorance never ceases to amaze me. A single female officer charged with stopping vehicles is given no information of a deranged gunman in her vicinity...This is arguably negligence and if I was a WA state attorney, I'd be talking to her family right now about a potential suit.

Condolences to the family of course...

A bunch of us over at CascadeClimbers.com are brainstorming a way to set up a memorial fund for her. If you guys have any ideas please feel free to chime in.

It looks like mother nature took care of it Article Here

In the story it says "The suspect's body was found the following day about six miles from the initial shooting scene.

Read more: www.odmp.org/officer/21076-park-ranger-margaret-anderson#ixz>>>
"

Yes guys, I'm well aware that Rainer and the Park isn't fenced in. It just pisses me off that this happened.
NPS Rangers are (as many have stated) to-the-hilt LEO's. . . I've worked with them myself in the past. They are no different from City or County cops (in fact, a good bit better). This said, they receive BOLO's, and scan the surrounding jurisdictions (via radio). They had to be aware of the shootings, this guys description, etc. But, wtf, let's just say they weren't. From what I read, an NPS Ranger was in pursuit, for a respectable distance, and the road block officer HAD to be aware as did the commandng officer and all other NPS LEO's on duty. The story says she was "attempting to stop a fleeing suspect", so the road block was set up for this incident.

This sucks, and I just can't picture how this was able to play-out with a road block LEO dead, and an unharmed suspect WHO GOT AWAY and fled back into the public/Park, unharmed. Where the hell were the other LEO's? What happened to the pursuing officer?
Again, I'm looking forward to the story coming to print.

Best to the family, friends and partners.

Even correctly recognized & a status determined, the numbers of the disorder simply outweigh the help available and the access to therapy still lacks which needs more than just a proper medication program.

Though what we are seeing here sounds more like a development into psychosis, incredibly rare, but required intervention. The system in the veteran's affairs dropped the ball here long before the public, the park ranger(s), and the soldier were all unknowingly put into danger.