Pierce County Sheriff worries we’re becoming numb to shootings

Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson that the tragic situation that unfolded in Tacoma Wednesday morning and into the early hours of Thursday is a symptom of a nationwide problem and needs to be treated as such.

“I would hope that this would be regarded as something as unacceptable,” the Pierce County Sheriff said. “Unacceptable by the government, unacceptable by all members of the community.

Number of officers killed by gunfire up 64 percent this year

“I’m worried that this is becoming far too frequent, and by its frequency, we become somewhat numb to this,” he added. “This is a loss not only to the Tacoma Police Department, not only to the law enforcement community, it’s the loss of one more person who is willing to step forward to put themselves at risk, and their families, at risk to serve the community.”

Reginald “Jake” Gutierrez was killed while responding to a domestic violence call. He was shot by a 38-year-old Tacoma man who had previously been arrested for intimidation with a weapon in 2015, according to police. The shooter allegedly used his 6-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl as human shields and attempted to barricade himself in the home at 413 East 52nd Street. Tacoma Police spokesperson Loretta Cool said an 11-hour standoff with the shooter came to an end around 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

The shooting took place almost exactly seven years after the 2009 shooting of four Lakewood Police officers at a coffee shop in Pierce County. More recently, Pastor said this was the 13^th fatal shooting, nationally, of an officer during the month of November.

Photos from the scene

Pastor, who said he was at the hospital and crime scene, explained that Pierce County Sheriff deputies were near the scene issuing a search warrant and, therefore, arrived before other Tacoma police officers. He said two deputies rescued the officer while he was under fire.

“Our units were there quicker than Tacoma, not because Tacoma didn’t care, it was because we were actually, ironically closer,” he said. “Two of the people got the officer out, got him into a shielded position and then tried to control the situation.”

Related: Community sends thoughts, prayers to Tacoma Police

Pierce County Sheriff: It’s a national problem

Pastor said the public’s support is crucial but that the nation must also wake up to the difficulties of being an officer.

“When the public shows up, lines the streets, that’s an incredibly powerful statement to make but that shouldn’t be where we stop,” he said. “Having people respectfully approach you and say thank you for what you do, that is great and that shouldn’t be where we stop.”

“The next question is: do we understand the challenges that law enforcement officers go through?” he said. “Understanding and information, but that shouldn’t be where we stop. Finally, we say 13 officers murdered in a month? This should be a national issue of concern. It should spark constructive outrage because we ask people to live a life and ethic of duty and sacrifice and stand up in our place.”

Here are other comments of note from Pierce County Sheriff Pastor:

Domestic violence situations are always tricky. “People are angry. They are upset to begin with. They might be on the verge of violence when we show up … It is always dicey when there are third parties and it is more dicey when they are children. We see our own children in these situations. The public does and journalists do as well. You see your own kids in this situation. You try to do everything you can to protect those kids so it was very carefully done. There was not a rush to get in. We felt the kids were in danger at some point and had to do something so we entered, protected the kids immediately, jumped on the kids to shield them, tried to get the guy to give up, he did not, he was shot and killed.”

Related: Deputy commends ‘very brave’ officers who cornered shooter

On the shooter’s choices: “Unfortunately, people make choices and sometimes those choices are irrevocable choices.”

On protecting the kids: “There is nothing more important than kids, that’s how we feel. Thank God we’re able to protect them and the kids were not hurt and were not lost.”

On the dangerous rhetoric nationally about officers: “It gives permission if you will. Now, this does not deny, and I do not deny, that there are times when we make mistakes when we mess up. That happens. But when you consider the number of incidents where police and citizens encounter one another in the course of a day, there are probably hundreds of thousands of those. … In a very difficult situation, where things are often chaotic, with a fast timeline, where we don’t have all the information, it’s not amazing to me that we mess up sometimes. What’s amazing to me is how seldom that happens, how incredibly seldom. We are not perfect, but pound for pound, ounce for ounce, and incident per incident, wow. What we do in situations of crisis and uncertainty and chaos, mostly we iron those out and they come out peacefully. That is an incredible accomplishment. That story needs to be told louder and clearer.”

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