Editor's note: This updates that the suspect confirmed dead in the park and provides additional details, including his name.
An Iraqi war veteran wanted in connection with the slaying of a ranger in Mount Rainier National Park was found dead Monday afternoon in a drainage near one of the park's hallmark waterfalls just south of Paradise.
How Benjamin Colton Barnes died, however, was not immediately known. While ground teams had reached the location of his body, they had not reported whether he had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, from hyopthermia, or perhaps from a fall, park spokeswoman Lee Snook said.
Mr. Barnes had been the subject of a manhunt that grew to involve more than 200 law enforcement personnel from state, local and federal jurisdictions after Ranger Margaret Anderson was shot New Year's Day. At times he waded through chest-deep snow to evade the search teams, Ms. Snook said.
“The last time his tracks were found the snow was about chest deep, so it would have been cold, wet and difficult," she said. The tracks indicated that he was "post-holing" and had no snowshoes, the spokeswoman said.
Earlier Monday, park officials said aerial teams had spotted Mr. Barnes' prone body in a steep drainage near Narda Falls, a 176-foot cascade of the Paradise River that plunges over a basalt wall in two pitches, one falling about 159 feet, the other about 17.
Ranger Anderson, a 34-year-old law enforcement ranger, was shot and killed when she tried to intercept Mr. Barnes' car as it fled a routine checkpoint where park visitors were checked to see if they had chains for their tires. At a point on the road above Longmire and about a mile from Paradise the ranger used her cruiser to block the road so she could stop the man shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday.
"The assailant jumped from his car and opened fire with a shotgun, fatally wounding Ranger Anderson. The assailant then fled on foot into the woods," another park spokeswoman, Lee Taylor, said Sunday evening.
Ranger Margaret Anderson. NPS photo.
When other rangers responded to the scene, they were prevented from reaching Ranger Anderson by the man, who kept them pinned down with gunfire from the woods, according to other park officials.
"It was about 90 minutes before they could reach her," Ms. Snook said Sunday afternoon.
The ranger, who became just the ninth ranger in Park Service history to be murdered in the line of duty, left behind a husband who also was a ranger in the park, and two young children, aged 2 and 4, according to park officials.
The more than 200 law enforcement personnel from the park, the FBI, and surrounding jurisdictions continued their manhunt into Sunday night, aided by a fixed-wing aircraft with forward-looking infrared to scan the ground, she said.
At Paradise, 125 park visitors who had come to Paradise to enjoy the day were moved for their safety into the Jackson Memorial Visitor Center along with 17 park staff.
"The visitor center has a restaurant to provide food, restrooms, and water, and law enforcement officers are on hand to provide protection," said Ms. Taylor.
Later Sunday evening they were escorted by authorities out of the park.
News reports out of Seattle said the man being sought was thought to have been involved in a shooting at a house there earlier Sunday, and that when authorities searched a car abandoned near Ranger Anderson they found it held survival gear and body armor.
In Washington, D.C., Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Sunday that he was "deeply saddened by the tragic, horrific and cowardly murder today at Mount Rainier National Park."
"The Department of the Interior and the National Park Service will do everything possible to bring the perpetrator of this crime to justice and to ensure the safety of park visitors and other park rangers," the secretary said in a prepared statement. "This tragedy serves as a reminder of the risks undertaken by the men and women of the National Park Service and law enforcement officers across the Department every day, and we thank them for their service. My thoughts and prayers are with Margaret's family in this difficult time."
Park Service Director Jon Jarvis called the ranger's murder "a heartbreaking, senseless tragedy."
"Margaret was just 34 years old. She and her husband Eric, who is also a Park Ranger at Mount Rainier, have two young children," he added. "Margaret was killed while doing her job: protecting the visiting public on one of the park’s busiest days of the year."
Over the years more than 200 Park Service staff have died or been killed on the job. Kris Eggle, a ranger at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2002 while pursuing suspected drug runners who were armed with AK-47s.
Comments
Here in Ogden, Utah we had five police officers shot last night during a drug raid. One officer dead, three still critical.
The shooter is still alive and will probably survive. A "decorated Iraq veteran" according to his family. Details still sketchy, but he apparently opened fire with an assault rifle with large capacity clip. (Not confirmed yet.) Of course, the excuse now is PTSD. (Turning into a favorite catch-all isn't it?)
So again I have to ask, why does any normal citizen need a heavy assault weapon with high capacity clips? Where did he get the weapon? In Utah anyone able to walk a few steps may qualify for a concealed weapon permit. It's not even necessary to prove they know how to safely use the weapon and they are not required to even have fired the thing.
And to top it all off, anyone -- I repeat ANYONE -- may go to a gun show and take advantage of the "gun show loophole" and purchase virtually anything their little heart may desire. No background checks necessary. Yet the NRA opposes any attempts to close that gaping hole with violent rhetoric and fear-mongering.
Something is simply far out of balance here. After the shooting of Gabriel Giffords in Arizona, shouldn't we have taken a long look at how easily weapons may be obtained by people like this one in Ogden and Jared Loughner, who shot Cong. Giffords?
The Second Amendment reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." How can we continue to ignore the first phrase of that document? Doesn't that in itself call for at least some kind of control over who keeps the arms?
I know this will be a never ending debate, but while we fiddle, good people will be in danger.
I don't think this argument is a tasteful way to memorialize Ranger Anderson.
I agree with you Lee. I have no problem with people carrying firearms as long as they go through classes and everything is well documented, but anyone can get one. My father has a felony assault charge from when he kidnapped and beat my mother. He has always carried weapons and does have a concealed weapons permit and even works as a deputy. My ex-fiance attempted suicide by cop 2 times in the past and was able to purchase 2 guns and have a concealed weapons permit. It really disturbs me that people with obvious problems are able to get weapons. And who needs an assault rifle anyway?
Perhaps the most tasteful way to memorialize Ranger Anderson -- and many others -- would be to finally get serious about effectively addressing the abuse of the Second Amendment that is becoming all too prevalant in America.
One needs to take lessons and pass a test to drive a car, but apparently just about any moron can buy an assault weapon. Just saying...
"In Utah anyone able to walk a few steps may qualify for a concealed
weapon permit. It's not even necessary to prove they know how to safely
use the weapon and they are not required to even have fired the thing."
Lee - you are entitled to your opinions but facts are facts - and you are wrong on the facts. Utah has extensive requirements for a conceal carry permit including background checks and training.
http://publicsafety.utah.gov/bci/docs/FIREARMS_LAWS_FOR_INSTRUCTORS.pdf
I believe the best way to memorialize Ranger Anderson would be to focus on how this country fails in the recognition, treatment, and long-term care of those with mental illness - particularly those whose illness may very well have been caused by trauma sustained while in service of this country.
It sure is fun to argue about guns, especially when there's a really ugly elephant in the room that no one wants to discuss. This guy could have easily killed Ranger Anderson with a six-shot revolver. We could outlaw one weapon after another (and I'm not necessarily against that in some cases), but we're curing symptoms and ignoring the disease.
It seems like whenever we have a guy like this or Jared Loughner in Arizona or any of a host of other killers, there are signs. Big, flashing neon warning signs. Until we can see those signs and have more recourse than to say, "I hope he never snaps and kills someone" I guess the best we can do is have hypothetical arguments about whther he could have achieved the same result with a smaller gun or a stronger background check.
I'm sure it's unpopular to say this, but I have sympathy for Benjamin Barnes. He likely died in physical and mental anguish. That shouldn't have happened anymore than Margaret Anderson should have died doing her duty as a ranger. Some proactive care might have prevented both regardless of what the 2nd amendment says.
Zebulon - and cars kill far more than guns. Just saying.....