Mount Rainier National Park Remains Closed; Suspected Gunman On Loose

A ranger of four years at Mount Rainier National Park is dead after she was shot Sunday by a suspect whom authorities say is still on the loose. Mt. Rainier remains closed Monday as the manhunt continues.

Police believe suspect Benjamin Barnes, 24, shot and killed Ranger Margaret Anderson on Sunday morning, after he failed to stop at a required tire checkpoint.

"A ranger tried to pull the car over and when it failed to stop, Park Ranger Margaret Anderson established a road block with her vehicle," said a statement from the National Park Service. "The assailant jumped from his car and opened fire with a shotgun, fatally wounding Ranger Anderson."

Authorities believe Barnes then fled on foot into the woods. He is believed to have military-trained survival skills that will keep him alive in the elements. Authorities arrived at the scene, including the Pierce County SWAT team.

"They, too, were fired upon while rendering aid to Ranger Anderson," according to the NPS.

Authorities shut down the park and are not allowing anyone to enter or leave. Over 125 visitors were evacuated late last night as police crews continued their investigation.

"[It was] better to do it (evacuate) under the cover of darkness than daylight," Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said in an interview with the Tacoma News Tribune.

The search for the murderer continued through the night, with a fixed wing aircraft using forward looking infrared to scan the ground. There are a more than 100 officers from a variety of agencies assisting with the manhunt, including National Park Service, Pierce County Sheriff, FBI, Washington State Patrol, U.S. Forest Service, City of Enumclaw and Lewis County Sheriff.

Anderson, who was 34, served at Mount Rainier for four years. She is survived by her husband, also a park ranger at Mount Rainier and two young daughters, believed to be ages 2 and 4.

As for the 24-year-old suspect, who police say is armed and dangerous, KOMO-4 News is reporting that Barnes is an Iraq War veteran whom police say is also a suspect in the early Sunday morning shooting of four people at a house party in Skway.

At the park, authorities recovered his vehicle, which had weapons and body armor inside.

Patch will update this story as it develops.