[FONT="]Source: Seattle Police Department
'Coldblooded killing' of officer
By Jennifer Sullivan and Steve Miletich
Seattle Times staff reporters
Seattle police say the fatal drive-by shooting of veteran Officer
Timothy Brenton on Saturday night represented something the department
had not seen before: the apparent targeting of police at random.
"It was incredibly brazen and bold," said Assistant Police Chief Jim
Pugel, who called the shooting an "assassination."
Brenton, 39, a field training officer, and officer-trainee Britt Sweeney
were seated in their parked squad car when Sweeney sensed danger over
her left shoulder and yelled for her partner to duck.
A car pulled up alongside the officers' car in the 100 block of 29th
Avenue shortly after 10 p.m., and someone inside opened fire.
Bullets grazed Sweeney's back as she hunkered down. Brenton was struck
by several gunshots and died instantly.
Sweeney, 33, grabbed the police radio and called for help, jumped from
the car and fired several rounds at the gunman's sedan as it backed away
from the cruiser, turned around and sped down the Leschi street, police
said Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference Sunday afternoon, Mayor Greg Nickels
called the shooting "a coldblooded killing."
Police have not identified any suspects or a motive in the shooting.
Asked if the shooting could be gang-connected, Pugel said nothing had
been ruled out.
In a briefing before the City Council today, police Chief John Diaz said
all cameras from patrol cars in the vicinity are being scrubbed to look
for clues, as well as cameras from area businesses and red light
cameras. "Every camera in the area is being looked at," he said.
"This was a profound tragedy. A shock to our senses," said Diaz,
apologizing for being emotional. "It's a family."
Diaz said the department is getting many tips and Clear Channel has
donated four billboards to try to help solve the shooting. He said the
department has made changes in deployment, but didn't give any specifics.
"This was a hit on law enforcement, a hit on government, not this
particular officer," he said, adding that the shooting appeared random.
The shooter apparently watched the traffic stop and then ambushed the
officers.
Police spent Sunday night and early today looking into people previously
arrested for threats to police and obstruction to see where they were on
Saturday night, according to a law enforcement source.
Police said Brenton had not been the target of any threats.
Brenton, of Marysville, was a married father of two young children, a
boy and a girl, said the slain officer's uncle, Jon Brenton, 50, of
Kingston.
Timothy Brenton had been with the department since December 2000.
"Everybody loved him," Jon Brenton said Sunday. "I don't think there was
any reason anybody would come after him."
A Snohomish County sheriff's deputy was parked outside the slain
officer's Marysville home Sunday. He said the family did not wish to
comment.
The slain officer's father and another uncle are retired Seattle police
officers, and his brother-in-law is a Seattle firefighter, Assistant
Police Chief Nick Metz said.
Brenton transferred to the Seattle Police Department from the police
department in La Conner, Skagit County.
Sweeney was seated in the driver's seat of the patrol car, with Brenton
in the passenger seat, as the officers parked in a quiet, tree-lined
residential street.
They had stopped to discuss the traffic stop they had completed minutes
earlier, Pugel said. A small, light-colored sedan pulled up next to
their car. Both vehicles were facing south.
For some reason, Sweeney "sensed" trouble and reacted by ducking, Pugel
said.
Gunfire blasted from the sedan without warning, police said. The bullets
entered the police car through the driver's window. Both officers were
wearing bulletproof vests, police said.
"It is clear the suspect was trying to get both of them," Pugel added.
Police said they aren't sure whether the car was struck by Sweeney's
return gunfire. The car was described as a white or light-blue Toyota.
Sweeney, of Seattle, was treated for minor injuries at Harborview
Medical Center. Pugel said she was resting at home Sunday and declined
to release much about her life out of concern that she remains a target.
"We are concerned with her safety. It is a miracle she is alive," said
Pugel, who praised Sweeney's quick thinking and behavior that he likened
to that of a veteran officer.
Police said Sweeney recently completed six months of training at two
police academies and had been in field training for about a month.
In Seattle, student officers are paired with field training officers in
a "job shadow-type role," police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said.
Student officers generally work in field training for about 3 ½ months.
Investigators tentatively have concluded that a rifle was fired at the
officers, according to a Seattle police source briefed on the matter.
Kent Holt, 28, was at a Halloween party near the scene and was outside
on the deck of a multiplex when he heard "at least 10" gunshots. He said
he thought it was fireworks until the street flooded with police cars.
Investigators have questioned one man in connection with the shooting,
but police are only calling him a "person of interest."
That man had been booked into the King County Jail on Friday for
threatening police but was released on bond Saturday.
Police questioned him shortly after the shooting and rearrested him for
investigation of obstruction, according to a law-enforcement source.
Details of the obstruction allegation haven't been released by police or
the King County Prosecutor's Office.
The last Seattle police officer to die in the line of duty was Joselito
"Lito" Barber, 26, who was killed Aug. 13, 2006, when an SUV driven by
Mary Rivas ran a red light and struck his patrol car.
Rivas was sentenced to 20 years in prison for vehicular homicide in
November 2007.
The last Seattle officer to be gunned down was Antonio Terry, 36, who
was fatally shot June 4, 1994, when he stopped to help two men, Quentin
Ervin and Eric Smiley, whose vehicle had broken down on an Interstate 5
offramp.
Smiley was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 33
years in prison.
Ervin also was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20
years in prison.[/FONT]
'Coldblooded killing' of officer
By Jennifer Sullivan and Steve Miletich
Seattle Times staff reporters
Seattle police say the fatal drive-by shooting of veteran Officer
Timothy Brenton on Saturday night represented something the department
had not seen before: the apparent targeting of police at random.
"It was incredibly brazen and bold," said Assistant Police Chief Jim
Pugel, who called the shooting an "assassination."
Brenton, 39, a field training officer, and officer-trainee Britt Sweeney
were seated in their parked squad car when Sweeney sensed danger over
her left shoulder and yelled for her partner to duck.
A car pulled up alongside the officers' car in the 100 block of 29th
Avenue shortly after 10 p.m., and someone inside opened fire.
Bullets grazed Sweeney's back as she hunkered down. Brenton was struck
by several gunshots and died instantly.
Sweeney, 33, grabbed the police radio and called for help, jumped from
the car and fired several rounds at the gunman's sedan as it backed away
from the cruiser, turned around and sped down the Leschi street, police
said Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference Sunday afternoon, Mayor Greg Nickels
called the shooting "a coldblooded killing."
Police have not identified any suspects or a motive in the shooting.
Asked if the shooting could be gang-connected, Pugel said nothing had
been ruled out.
In a briefing before the City Council today, police Chief John Diaz said
all cameras from patrol cars in the vicinity are being scrubbed to look
for clues, as well as cameras from area businesses and red light
cameras. "Every camera in the area is being looked at," he said.
"This was a profound tragedy. A shock to our senses," said Diaz,
apologizing for being emotional. "It's a family."
Diaz said the department is getting many tips and Clear Channel has
donated four billboards to try to help solve the shooting. He said the
department has made changes in deployment, but didn't give any specifics.
"This was a hit on law enforcement, a hit on government, not this
particular officer," he said, adding that the shooting appeared random.
The shooter apparently watched the traffic stop and then ambushed the
officers.
Police spent Sunday night and early today looking into people previously
arrested for threats to police and obstruction to see where they were on
Saturday night, according to a law enforcement source.
Police said Brenton had not been the target of any threats.
Brenton, of Marysville, was a married father of two young children, a
boy and a girl, said the slain officer's uncle, Jon Brenton, 50, of
Kingston.
Timothy Brenton had been with the department since December 2000.
"Everybody loved him," Jon Brenton said Sunday. "I don't think there was
any reason anybody would come after him."
A Snohomish County sheriff's deputy was parked outside the slain
officer's Marysville home Sunday. He said the family did not wish to
comment.
The slain officer's father and another uncle are retired Seattle police
officers, and his brother-in-law is a Seattle firefighter, Assistant
Police Chief Nick Metz said.
Brenton transferred to the Seattle Police Department from the police
department in La Conner, Skagit County.
Sweeney was seated in the driver's seat of the patrol car, with Brenton
in the passenger seat, as the officers parked in a quiet, tree-lined
residential street.
They had stopped to discuss the traffic stop they had completed minutes
earlier, Pugel said. A small, light-colored sedan pulled up next to
their car. Both vehicles were facing south.
For some reason, Sweeney "sensed" trouble and reacted by ducking, Pugel
said.
Gunfire blasted from the sedan without warning, police said. The bullets
entered the police car through the driver's window. Both officers were
wearing bulletproof vests, police said.
"It is clear the suspect was trying to get both of them," Pugel added.
Police said they aren't sure whether the car was struck by Sweeney's
return gunfire. The car was described as a white or light-blue Toyota.
Sweeney, of Seattle, was treated for minor injuries at Harborview
Medical Center. Pugel said she was resting at home Sunday and declined
to release much about her life out of concern that she remains a target.
"We are concerned with her safety. It is a miracle she is alive," said
Pugel, who praised Sweeney's quick thinking and behavior that he likened
to that of a veteran officer.
Police said Sweeney recently completed six months of training at two
police academies and had been in field training for about a month.
In Seattle, student officers are paired with field training officers in
a "job shadow-type role," police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said.
Student officers generally work in field training for about 3 ½ months.
Investigators tentatively have concluded that a rifle was fired at the
officers, according to a Seattle police source briefed on the matter.
Kent Holt, 28, was at a Halloween party near the scene and was outside
on the deck of a multiplex when he heard "at least 10" gunshots. He said
he thought it was fireworks until the street flooded with police cars.
Investigators have questioned one man in connection with the shooting,
but police are only calling him a "person of interest."
That man had been booked into the King County Jail on Friday for
threatening police but was released on bond Saturday.
Police questioned him shortly after the shooting and rearrested him for
investigation of obstruction, according to a law-enforcement source.
Details of the obstruction allegation haven't been released by police or
the King County Prosecutor's Office.
The last Seattle police officer to die in the line of duty was Joselito
"Lito" Barber, 26, who was killed Aug. 13, 2006, when an SUV driven by
Mary Rivas ran a red light and struck his patrol car.
Rivas was sentenced to 20 years in prison for vehicular homicide in
November 2007.
The last Seattle officer to be gunned down was Antonio Terry, 36, who
was fatally shot June 4, 1994, when he stopped to help two men, Quentin
Ervin and Eric Smiley, whose vehicle had broken down on an Interstate 5
offramp.
Smiley was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 33
years in prison.
Ervin also was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20
years in prison.[/FONT]
Prayers for the family and rthe department
