Police: Domestic violence calls among the riskiest

Domestic violence calls can be among the riskiest for police as was confirmed when two Pierce County, Wash. officers were shot while responding to a dispute between two brothers Monday night in the town of Eatonville east of Olympia.

Authorities said the deputies were greeted at the door by one brother while the other brother, 35-year-old David E. Crable, armed himself then opened fire on Sgt. Nick Hausner, 43, and Deputy Kent Mundell, 44, wounding both officers.

Mundell, who shot and killed David Crable, is in critical condition while Hausner is in stable condition.

The first brother called deputies to have an intoxicated Crable removed from the home, police said.

Police said these situations can escalate quickly because domestic calls are usually charged with emotion.

“You are dealing with people at their worst,” said 27-year SWAT veteran Sgt. Lyle McCuistion of the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department. “They are the most angry, perhaps, that they have ever been with their significant other or loved one.”

This was the case for Jenny Huber last July whose boyfriend threatened to kill her and then began to follow-up on the threat.

“I owe those officers my life,” she said. “They saved my life. I had a certain view of police officers, and now I have nothing but the utmost respect for them.”

She said her boyfriend came up from behind and began choking her. But before she fell unconscious, she was able to call 9-1-1 on her cell phone.

Huber’s gasps for breath could be heard during the call, and the phone remained open on the couch where the assault was taking place as deputies entered her apartment.

“They (police) did draw their weapons, and in my case I think it was completely reasonable,” said Huber. “They didn’t know exactly what they were coming into. All they heard was me screaming.”

Clackamas County deputies credit their training for saving Huber’s life.

Officers said they almost always respond to domestic violence calls with at least one backup officer. Many times they said victims turn on them and attack.

Police said the basic rule for using deadly force is if the life of the officer or the life of someone else is threatened.

“Honestly, the last thing we want to do is use our weapons,” said McCuistion.

He said officers try to use other tools like trying to talk the aggressor down, a Taser, or beanbag gun before they deploy deadly force.

In Pierce County, police said the suspect said he was coming out peacefully before he drew his gun and started firing.

The Pierce County deputies are the seventh and eighth Washington officers to come under attack in less than two months.

Two Seattle officers were shot on Halloween and one of them died. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, four Lakewood officers were shot and killed inside a coffee shop.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.