In a shocking crime, one of America’s most popular national parks has become a crime scene. At beautiful Mt. Rainier National Park, 34-year-old park ranger and mother of two Margaret Anderson was shot and killed. The gunman is an alleged Iraq War veteran and survivalist named Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, who disappeared into the woods after the shooting. Now, Mount Rainier is off-limits as the 368-mile park is the center of a manhunt involving 150 rangers, federal officials, and Pierce County law enforcement officers.
Barnes was being chased by a ranger when Anderson tried to block him with her car; he shot her, then abandoned his vehicle. The car was recovered with body armor and weapons inside it; Barnes is a suspect in an early-morning shooting at a house party in Seattle. The fact that the car was so well-armed has caused concern among park officials, who have a group of 125 people (plus five police officers) holed up inside a visitor’s center for their protection.
“We do not know what resources the shooter has,” said park spokesman Kevin Bacher. “We’re not sure what we’re up against. We know that he has a weapon, but we don’t know how many.”
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