Thousands Celebrate Life Of Slain Wash. Ranger

Topics: From the Wires,

Thousands Celebrate Life Of Slain Wash. RangerIn this photo made with an iPhone, a sign is shown posted at a candlelight vigil, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in Eatonville, Wash., in memory of Park ranger Margaret Anderson, who was killed by a gunman during a traffic stop at Mount Rainier National Park a week ago. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)(Credit: AP)

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Top federal officials, fellow park rangers and thousands of well-wishers have gathered in Washington state to celebrate the life of Margaret Anderson, a Mount Rainier National Park ranger who was fatally shot on New Year’s Day.

A funeral procession of law enforcement vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency service vehicles arrived at Pacific Lutheran University Tuesday morning.

Later, hundreds of rangers, police officers and others stood at attention and saluted, as Anderson’s family and friends followed her flag-draped casket into the auditorium. An overflow venue has been set up at Rainier View Christian Church in Tacoma.

Anderson, a 34-year-old mother of two young girls, was shot and killed after setting up a roadblock to stop a vehicle that blew through a checkpoint on the road to the park’s visitor center. The driver of that vehicle shot Anderson in her car and ran away, authorities said.

Searchers found the body of the suspect, 24-year-old Iraq war veteran Benjamin Colton Barnes, in a snowy creek. An autopsy showed he died of hypothermia and drowning.

“You don’t think of this kind of this situation going into a national park,” said Grant Smith, operations director for Explorer Search and Rescue Pierce County.

Michael Jacobs, a retired park ranger, drove 700 miles from California to show his support for Anderson’s family, colleagues and the community.

“Ranger Anderson joined to help people and to serve,” said Jacobs, a reserve deputy with the Placer County Sheriff’s Department and one of hundreds of law enforcement and other officers who came to honor Anderson. “It was extremely tragic.”

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis were scheduled to speak, along with ministers.

Anderson had served as a ranger at Mount Rainier south of Seattle for three years. She was married to another ranger, Eric Anderson, who was on duty elsewhere in the park when she was killed.

The daughter of a Lutheran minister, Anderson grew up in New Jersey and earned a bachelor’s degree in fisheries and wildlife from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in biology from Fort Hays State University in Kansas, according to media reports.

She began working with the National Park Service as a law enforcement ranger at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, where she met her husband. She also worked as a law enforcement park ranger at Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park in Maryland.

Next Article

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Comments are not enabled for this story.