Deputy shot, dies trying to catch suspect

By Pat Jenkins
The Dispatch
A Pierce County Sheriff Department deputy died early Monday morning after being shot by an apparent burglar he was trying to catch in the Frederickson area.
Daniel McCartney, 34, was chasing a suspect when shots were exchanged, fatally wounding the officer, authorities said.
One of two suspects reportedly was found dead near the scene. The other escaped and remained at-large Monday.
The Sheriff Department, in a statement, called McCartney’s death “a terrible loss.”
The shooting happened just after 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. McCartney was responding to a 9-1-1 call about an intruder at a home on 200th Street East. Over the phone, dispatchers could hear screaming and a “scuffle,” authorities reported.
After arriving at the scene, McCartney chased an unidentified black male on foot before being shot, authorities said.

A description of the suspect who escaped was released by Sheriff Department officials. They said he's of mixed race or white, tall and thin, with curly dark hair in a ponytail, a large pointy nose, and pock marks on the right side of his face. He was wearing a dark-colored, hooded sweatshirt and a black beanie. Tips about him can be telephoned to 855-798-8477, officials said.

The suspect, who authorities described as armed and dangerous, was the subject of a manhunt by K9 units in the area of 200th Street. That road and others – 176th Street East, 38th Avenue East and Canyon Road East – were closed to form a perimeter for the search. Some reopened Monday morning, but 200th remained closed from 42nd Avenue East to 50th Avenue East.
The Bethel School District canceled all classes Monday because of the ongoing manhunt, which included authorities blocking roads leading to the district’s bus facility and preventing bus drivers from starting their t pickup routes. After-school activities also were canceled “in an abundance of caution,” district officials announced.
Pierce County Skills Center, a vocational education school administered by the Bethel district, also was closed for the day because of its proximity to the shooting and search area.

After the shooting, McCartney was taken to Saint Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, where the Sheriff Department later said he died early in the morning of Jan. 8.
A photograph provided by the department showed McCartney’s flag-draped body being wheeled through a hall in the hospital by uniformed officers, including Sheriff Paul Pastor.  
McCartney, who lived in Yelm and was a member of the department since 2014, was married and the father of three boys. He was a Navy veteran and was an officer in the Hoquiam Police Department before joining the Pierce County force.
McCartney is the first Pierce County Sheriff deputy in eight years to die in the line of duty after being shot.  Kent Mundell was fatally wounded during a domestic disturbance in Eatonville on Dec. 21, 2009.
Seven deputies have died in relation to incidents that happened while they were on duty.