Before he was taken off life support, deputy Kent Mundell’s family gathered with him in his hospital room.
They had story time with him, and his wife stood by his side while doctors removed him from life support. At 5:04 p.m. Monday, the deputy died of his wounds.
“It’s obvious that everybody was waiting for a miracle that didn’t come,†Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Ed Troyer said in announcing Mundell’s death.
Mundell, 44, and Sgt. Nick Hausner were shot Dec. 21 while responding to a domestic violence call near Eatonville. Hausner was treated and later released, but Mundell had been in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle since that night.
Mundell and Hausner were dispatched to the small house near Tanwax Lake after someone there called 911 to report that a man was “drunk and belligerent†and refusing to leave. David Edward Crable – who had a history of domestic violence – initially agreed to leave the home but later pulled out a pistol and opened fire. Mundell traded fire with Crable, killing him.
Mundell was hit multiple times, though none of the shots made it through his Level IIIA vest. From what I’ve been able to gather from various LEO sources, either the multiple hits attributed so much trauma that his body went into shock. He was put into a medically induced coma to try and speed the healing, but even that didn’t work.
Godspeed, Deputy Mundell.
In related news, the murderer’s own daughter attacked her father after he started shooting, not only putting herself in the line of fire, but very likely saving not only the other deputy’s life, but also those of her aunt and uncle.