Massive manhunt for Iraq veteran after Park Ranger gunned down

Massive manhunt after ranger slain at Rainier
Park Ranger Margaret Anderson, a mother of two who was married to another ranger at the park, was shot about 10:30 a.m. Sunday after setting up a roadblock to stop a car that was fleeing another officer.

By Mike Carter, Craig Welch, Steve Miletich and Jack Broom
Seattle Times staff reporters
Sunday, January 1, 2012

Massive manhunt after ranger slain at Rainier
In this undated photo provided by the Pierce County Sheriff's Dept., Benjamin Colton Barnes, is shown. Officials said Barnes is a person of interest in the fatal shooting of a park ranger at Mount Rainier National Park, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012 in Washington State.

A man who was being sought in the shooting of four people at a New Year's party in South King County early Sunday is suspected in the fatal shooting of a park ranger in Mount Rainier National Park later in the morning.

Park Ranger Margaret Anderson, a mother of two who was married to another ranger at the park, was shot about 10:30 a.m. after setting up a roadblock to stop a car that was fleeing another officer.

She was shot when the driver apparently stepped out of the vehicle with a shotgun and opened fire. It took authorities nearly 90 minutes to get to her because the assailant continued to fire an assault rifle at Pierce County SWAT team officers as they tried to assist the injured ranger, officials said.

Anderson was the first park ranger shot and killed in the line of duty at Mount Rainier.

Nearly eight hours earlier, King County sheriff's deputies responded to shots fired at a party in Skyway, where an early-morning session of "show and tell" with guns among several armed partygoers devolved into a shootout, according to detectives.

Four people were shot, and three people fled the scene. One of them was identified as Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24.

Barnes is the father of a 1-year-old daughter, and custody documents filed in Pierce County Superior Court by the child's mother describe him as an Iraq war veteran plagued by anger and depression who was hospitalized after threatening suicide last January.

In July, the mother, Nicole Santos, petitioned the court for an amended parenting plan and restraining order, citing threats of violence by Barnes.

"I just feel there is so much instability," Santos wrote in a July 19 petition seeking to restrict Barnes' access to the child.

"I think it is important for the court to know that Benjamin was also deployed to Iraq in 2007-2008 and has possible PTSD issues," she wrote, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder. "He gets easily irritated, angry, depressed and frustrated.
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UPDATE
Police Believe Body Found is Gunman Sought in Mount Rainier National Park Ranger Shooting
Published January 02, 2012
Associated Press


MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Washington – A plane searching the slopes of Mount Rainier National Park for an Iraq War veteran suspected in the slaying of a park ranger found a body believed to be his lying face down in chest-deep snow Monday, authorities said.

It could be several hours before authorities reach the body. While they haven't identified the body, they believe it is that of 24-year-old Benjamin Colton Barnes.

"Obviously the strong probability is that it is" the gunman, Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

Barnes is believed to have fled to the remote park to hide after an earlier shooting at a New Year's house party near Seattle that wounded four, two critically. Authorities suspect he shot ranger Margaret Anderson later Sunday.

Police cleared out the park of visitors and mounted a manhunt for Barnes, who was believed to have weapons and survivalist training. The body was found face down, Washington State Patrol spokesman Guy Gill said.

Barnes has had a troubled transition to civilian life, with accusations he suffers post-traumatic stress disorder and is suicidal.
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