ELLENSBURG, WA – More than a thousand people, including hundreds of law enforcement officers, gathered Thursday at a memorial service for a Washington state sheriff’s deputy who was killed last week by a road rage suspect living in the country illegally.
Ryan Thompson, 42, died in a gunbattle March 19 near Ellensburg that also killed the suspect and wounded police Officer Benito Chavez, 22, of the nearby small town of Kittitas.
The memorial service featured officers from the U.S. and Canada, including some from here in Clallam County.
Port Angeles Deputy Chief of Police Jason Viada shared this firsthand account with KONP.
Thompson grew up in Walla Walla and is survived by his wife and three children.