Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy killed en route to urgent domestic violence call

PARKLAND, Wash. – Authorities say a sheriff’s deputy in western Washington was killed in his patrol car, which crashed while he was on his way to back up other officers on an urgent domestic violence call.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s office said Deputy Cooper Dyson, 25, was found dead at the scene about 3 a.m. Saturday after a passerby reported a patrol car had crashed into a commercial building.

Dyson was on his way to assist two fellow officers already dispatched to a house in Parkland. They had asked for back up within a minute of arriving to the initial call reporting a young child had been assaulted and there were weapons in the home.

Dyson was the first deputy to respond to the urgent call, which continued to escalate as the officers at the scene said the suspect was fighting them and possibly trying to access a shotgun in the house.

The sheriff called it a heartbreaking loss for the department and Dyson’s family. He is survived by his 2-year-old child and his wife, who is pregnant with their second baby. The deputy had been with the department since 2018.

“This is a tremendously sad loss. Our Deputy was responding to help other Deputies in a dangerous domestic violence situation. It is another hard reminder of the dangers and difficulties our Deputies face,“ Sheriff Paul Pastor said in a statement.

It is the first motor vehicle collision death of a Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy since 1941.

Saturday also marked the 10-year anniversary of another domestic violence call that turned fatal for the department, which resulted in the death of Deputy Kent Mundell seven days after he and and Sergeant Nick Hausner were shot while responding to a call near Eatonville.