Dozens of solemn, uniformed officers lined the sidewalk outside Tacoma General Hospital in Washington Wednesday night, silently waiting for the body of one of their own, who died hours after he was shot earlier by a gunman while responding to a domestic call at a home on the city's east side.
The officer, who authorities have not yet identified, was transported to the hospital and underwent surgery, but could not be saved. Police spokeswoman Loretta Cool announced his death late Wednesday evening, and hours later Police Chief Don Ramsdell told reporters the officer was a 45-year-old, 17-year veteran of the force.
"We've suffered a great loss and I think the community has suffered a great loss. And I don't know how to put that into words other than to say that everyone here appreciates the kind thoughts and the prayers that are going out to us," an emotional Cool told reporters.
It's unclear what led to the fatal shooting, Cool told The Washington Post.
The man suspected in the shooting was killed Thursday morning following a lengthy standoff with officers, police told Reuters.
The suspect barricaded himself inside a home with two children for about 12 hours while officers tried to coax him out, police said. At about 3:30 a.m., a SWAT team entered the building and the suspect was killed.
Pierce County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ed Troyer told reporters that officers knew there were children inside the house. "He was using them as a shield," Troyer said.
Officers rescued an eight-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl, Northwest Cable News reported.
The slain officer and a colleague received a report at about 4 p.m. Wednesday of a "verbal domestic dispute" between two people in a three-story house in the 400 block of East 52nd Street, according to authorities.
The News Tribune, quoting police, reported that the officers knocked on the front door when they arrived, and "a very short time after," called for priority backup. Then a "shots fired" call went out over the radio.
Cool said several people in the home were able to immediately leave after the shooting, but she couldn't say how many, their ages or their genders. Police told the News Tribune that the prospect of protecting others in the home may have prevented the responding officers from fleeing the dangerous situation.
"You had someone in the house who was shooting and you just can't leave somebody inside," Cool told reporters.
Kristi Croskey was one of the people who fled the home once the shooting began. A photo from the scene shows Croskey, distraught, sitting on the ground against a white picket fence, surrounded by police.
She once lived in the home but moved out seven months ago, she told TV station KING 5. Croskey was there Wednesday afternoon to retrieve some items she had left behind, and said she knew the suspect and his wife but wasn't aware of any issues in their relationship.
"I'm caught off guard just like everybody else," Croskey told KING 5.
In a different interview with TV station KIRO 7, Croskey said she owns the home and attends church with the suspect.
She spoke emphatically of her support for the Tacoma police department and said that the officers there were trying to protect the safety of those inside and of the shooter.
"I don't want to hear anything about black lives matter, because all lives matter," she said. "I want to say the Tacoma Police Department handled this matter with such professionalism . . . despite one of their own being shot."
Cool said the department has 381 employees who all know each other. This loss, she said, is profound.
"Remember that we still have a job to do, we are still on the scene and we are doing our best to not have anyone else injured or harmed tonight in any way," she said. "We all will take our time when it's appropriate to grieve and to share our thoughts and feelings on our friend . ..
"Everyone in our police department knows everyone and yes everybody will feel it."
On social media, law enforcement agencies across the state shared their support for the Tacoma department. Sheriff John Urquhart ordered all King County Sheriff's deputies to wear "mourning bands."
In a statement, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said he and his wife, Trudi, were praying for and thinking about the family and loved ones of the slain officer.
"All of Washington grieves with Tacoma, which tonight lost one of their finest," the governor said. "In times of crisis, we see the service and resolve of law enforcement as they run towards the danger. Tonight an officer was taken from us while serving his community, and it is a reminder of the sacrifice that these men and women across our state and nation make every day."
Onw Wednesday night, while a SWAT team still surrounded the crime scene and authorities tried to take the suspect into custody, dozens of other officers stood guard outside the hospital alongside members of the public and journalists as the slain officer's body was brought outside and loaded into a Tacoma Fire Department ambulance. At 10 p.m., a processional of police motorcycles and patrol cars escorted the officer to the medical examiner's office.
Wednesday's fatal shooting marks the 11th time a Tacoma officer has been killed in the line of duty, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. The last officer who died was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2004, and the last time a Tacoma officer was killed by gunfire was 1997.
The death of this officer comes a little more than a week after a spate of cross-country, targeted attacks on officers in a 12-hour period in Florida, Missouri and Texas. The officers were all inside their cars when shooters ambushed them, authorities said. The Texas officer was killed.
According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 61 officers have died in firearms-related incidents this year. In total, 132 officers had been killed in the line of duty so far in 2016.
Reuters contributed to this report.