MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Officer Timothy Brenton was shot assassination style on Halloween night when an assailant pulled up to his parked police unit and began unloading his rifle into it, hitting him and just grazing the rookie Officer Britt Sweeney who he was training at the time. More details of this can be found here.
While mourners were gathered at Key Arena to grieve the loss of Officer Timothy Brenton, killed in the line of duty on Halloween night, detectives were following a lead that matched the description of the 1980-83 Datsun 210 they had been looking for. This brought them to the home of Christopher J. Monfort.
The source which tipped detectives said that Monfort had been acting strangely and only recently decided to cover the vehicle, which is odd since it has been all over the news for the past six days.
Detectives waited to see who approached the vehicle, and when they saw the suspect approach, they got out to question him. Immediately he ran towards his apartment home which has an outside stair case. As detectives closed in on him, he turned to reveal a handgun and tried to shoot. Astonishingly, the gun did not discharge any rounds. He turned to run again with detectives close behind; he turned and aimed the gun again and this time he was shot by a Seattle SWAT officer. He was shot in the head and was flown to Harborview Medical Center where he is in critical condition.
We are learning more about the suspect, Christopher John Monfort. He was a graduate of the University of Washington with a major in criminal justice, was a member of the McNair Scholars Progaram, lived in low income housing and has no criminal history. It is believed he was recently laid off from a job as a security officer.
UPDATE: Police have found evidence linking the suspect, Christopher Monford, to both the arson of police vehicles on October 22nd and the shooting of Officer Timothy Brenton on Halloween night. The article which links those two crimes is an American flag.
The two crimes are being seen as "domestic terrorism", based on the nature of the crimes and the hints Monford had left regarding why he was targeting the police (a note was left at the arson crime threatening police due to issues of police brutality).
Of all the people who know Monford, none seem to think he is capable of such a heinous act. There are flip flopping stories as to whether he was reserved or outgoing, but no one puts him in a violent offender category.
What is probably the most disturbing, is his thesis he submitted in the McNair program, "The Power of Citizenship Your Government Doesn't Want You to Know About: How to Change the Inequity of the Criminal Justice System Immediately, Through Active Citizen Nullification of Laws, As a Juror."
He fought for equal rights of minorities and was active in volunteering with juvenile delinquents. Additionally, he was always known for wanting to become a police officer.
Program coordinator of Highline Community College, where Monford attended before the UW, had this to say: "You've shaken me to my toes," he told a Times reporter. "He's one of those people you thought would make a difference, a positive, constructive difference."
PHOTO: KING 5 NEWS (Monford Being Arrested After Being Shot)
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Comments
Someday we either wrap our heads around the issue of the overabundance of guns or we just protect ourselves to extinction.
I am sorry for the pain this is causing your community kate.
I wish they would handle it like they did with the nuclear arms race with the Russians - use the MAD method. Start now and start decreasing our arms, realize the second amendment in the context it was written, a tyrannical English government, and see the value of evolution.
Show our younger generation the harm in violence, don't put guns in the little boys hands. Don't let them carry this burden any more.
It has to start somewhere. Let it start NOW.
Again, this is a worthy issue and you are covering it professionally.
Well done,
Rated.
Thoth - yes, I saw your last comment. Thanks so much for coming by and sharing in supporting this fallen hero.
Joe - thanks for coming by.
Fingerlakeswanderer - I know. It sounds as if he really targeted the "establishment" as being the problem and the criminals as being the victims. It is a sad day when this is how one thinks is the way to get themselves heard. The lives he just ripped apart - unthinkable.
O/E - I know it may be hard to believe, but (reported) murder rates have actually been in decline since 1995. They are probably bound to level out now. It is hard to believe, as TV puts it out in such great abundance and with such ferocity, but it is true.
This does not, however, mitigate the strangeness of the homicidal rampages which seem to be more as of late. People who "snap" and not only take themselves out, but take so many others out with them. That, has definitely seemed to trend upward although I don't have statistics to reference on that.
I think one murder is too many. Period. Thanks for coming by my friend, I sure hope we can start digging to causes and making for real opportunities for rehabilitation rather than what we have seen for the last 100 years.
LuluandPhoebe - It looks pretty clear it is him. He is fitting a profile down to the T and there is evidence putting him at both crime scenes.
Daniel - I don't think he is that young - he is 41. I believe there will always be those who celebrate violence as an act of hero worship, there is no denying that. Terrorists are a prime example. You take impressionable young men in rough circumstances and they can be molded very easily - some without any other outside catalyst to show them there is another way. What I find interesting in this case is he seemed privy to a wide variety of worldviews and narrowed in on a few select, extreme ones in which criminals were seen as victims and juries were to be used to nullify minority crimes (in essence, giving them a second chance). While I agree our penal system isn't working, I have yet to see a psychological framework which doesn't require both victims and victimizers to be accountable for their behavior. Monford seemed to want to circumvent this and blame the establishment which put people away; people who were doing their jobs within the current system.
It is a sad day when someone's mind snaps to a point where they think killing someone else is going to enhance their agenda.
I truly understand the desire to not trust the government and the like, I do. However, I do believe in incremental change and with this, I believe it starts with the younger generations, making the small changes, taking them out of the hands of boys and allowing them to see strength through expression (feelings) and less stereotypes. We can evolve. It would be one small step.