Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered state flags lowered to half staff today in honor of Pierce County Deputy Sheriff Kent Mundell, who died yesterday of wounds suffered in answering a domestic violence call. They'll stay lowered for a week, through close of business on Jan. 5.

Western Washington was still reeling from the Thanksgiving weekend shooting of four officers in Lakewood when Mundell and Sgt. Nick Hausner were wounded in a shootout with David Crable three days before Christmas.

He's the sixth police officer in the Puget Sound area to die in the line of duty in two months. On Halloween night, Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton was shot to death while sitting in his patrol car.

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