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.”
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