Snohomish County’s fallen officers
Published 9:50 am Saturday, March 26, 2022
On Friday, Everett officer Dan Rocha was killed, making him the 17th officer who worked or lived in Snohomish County and died in the line of duty. Here is a list of law enforcement officers from the county to lose their lives while serving the public.
March 25, 2022 —Everett officer Dan Rocha, 41, was shot to death after contacting a man in a Starbucks parking lot due to “suspicious activity.”
Nov. 17, 2020 — Tulalip officer Charlie Cortez, 29, was presumed drowned after a wave hit his fisheries boat, capsizing it and throwing him and his partner overboard. The other officer survived.
July 13, 2020 — Bothell officer Jonathan Shoop, 32, was killed in a brief shootout with a suspect. He began his police career just a year prior.
May 31, 2013 — State trooper Sean O’Connell, 38, died in an on-duty motorcycle collision while working traffic control related to the Skagit River bridge collapse. The Marysville-area man was a 16-year veteran of the State Patrol.
Jan. 29, 2011 — Corrections officer Jayme Biendl was strangled at her post in the chapel of the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe.
Oct. 31, 2009 — Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton was ambushed in his patrol car. He lived in Marysville.
Sept. 12, 2006 — Brier officer Edwanton “Eddie” Thomas died from a heart attack while struggling with a man who was having a diabetic reaction.
July 15, 1999 — Everett police officer Brian DiBucci fell from the U.S. 2 trestle while assisting in a felony traffic stop.
Aug. 15, 1994 — Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Kinard was ambushed by an ex-convict, who minutes earlier had killed a blind man.
Dec. 18, 1984 — Seattle police officer Nicholas Davis was fatally shot when he confronted a man who left a restaurant without paying. Davis lived in Snohomish County.
Feb. 5, 1966 — Marysville police officer William D. Arndt was fatally shot by a 17-year-old boy.
Dec. 29, 1960 — State trooper Wesley H. Whittenberg was fatally struck by a car while directing traffic around a crash along Highway 99 at the Stillaguamish River.
March 2, 1927 — Percy Z. Brewster, Sultan’s town marshal, was fatally shot while placing a suspect in the town jail.
Nov. 23, 1920 — Everett police detective Jack Fox was fatally shot on Colby Avenue while trying to arrest a robber.
Nov. 5, 1916 — Jefferson Beard and Charles O. Curtiss were fatally shot in the gun battle known as the Everett Massacre. Both had been deputized by then-Sheriff Donald McRae to repel a boatload of labor protesters from Seattle. Beard had worked in law enforcement; Curtiss was a National Guard lieutenant.
July 5, 1902 — Everett police detective Charles Raymond was ambushed near Bothell. He was helping the sheriff’s office hunt Harry Tracy, an escaped convict from Oregon. Tracy reportedly killed a half-dozen lawmen before being brought down near Spokane. Raymond was described in a local news account as “one of the most efficient officers of the Everett force.”
