Mount Rainier National Park

8:30 a.m. Press Conference

Nisqually Entrance

 

Kevin Bacher

National Park Ranger

 

“We absolutely take it personally. It is a very small staff up here. Everybody knows everyone. Everybody knew Margaret. Everybody was friends with Margaret. She didn’t have an enemy in the world. She was one of the most positive people you could ever meet. The sort of person who would drop everything and do something for you at a moment’s notice. And did.

 

“She was a dear friend both here at the park and in the community. A lot of us had connections with her outside of the park as well. Her kids went to the daycare run by my neighbor where my kids were in daycare when they were younger. She went to my church (Bethany Lutheran Church in Spanaway).

 

“We absolutely will (come together to support Ranger Eric Anderson, Margaret Anderson’s husband). One of my coworkers is focused on that this morning. Finding out what the plans are. I know that her family members are flying in from the east coast today and we have a family liaison who is working with them to find out what they need to find out what kind of memorial services are being set up, to find out how people can help, how people can express their grief and their love for Margret and her family. I don’t have those details yet but we are gathering that.”

 

WHY WOULD SOMEBODY ON THE RUN COME UP HERE? IT SEEMS LIKE A DEAD END.

 

“Yes it is very much a dead end. I think that is exactly the reason, we are speculating obviously, but the speculation is that he may have come up here for specifically that reason: to get away. To get out into the wilderness. The Pierce County and King County PD have said that Mr. Barnes is also a suspect in a shooting in (Skyview) early yesterday morning. I don’t have any details about that. That’s simply what’s been reported by their public information officers. The speculation is that he threw some stuff in the car and headed up here to hide out.

 

IS THERE CONCERN THAT HE HAS TAKEN ON A RAMBO PERSONA, WAITING TO AMBUSH OFFICERS?

 

Certainly that is a concern, that he might be violent to anybody who might approach him. He certainly has shown indications that that might be the case. Based on the fact that he fired on Margaret and Ranger Dan Camiccia yesterday unprovoked and then fired on the Pierce County swat team that came in that tried to rescue and recover Margaret.

 

ROUGH NUMBERS ON ESTIMATED LAW ENFORCEMENT HELPING IN SEARCH

 

“We are estimating about 200 people will be involved in the search and support today.”

 

DO YOU THINK THE SHOOTER SURVIVED THE NIGHT?

I wouldn’t want to speculate whether or not he survived the night without knowing what kind of gear he had with him. It is certainly possible to survive the night. Somebody who knows what they are doing absolutely can survive the night and not only that but enjoy it. I’m talking about the two people who are camped out at Reflection Lake. They went willingly. They went because it is fun thing to do because it is a fun thing to do. You go out, you take an all-weather tent, a sleeping bag, you take a lot of gear to keep yourself warm. You build a snow cave. Boy Scouts come up here all the time and practice their snow cave building and survival skills. If he had those skills and he had some of that gear he could be very comfortable last night.

 

“I think all of us are hoping that was not the case. We also know from very recent experience that it can be very deadly if you are unprepared. We had an incident just a couple of weeks ago where a gentleman got lost at Paradise … and unfortunately he succumbed to the elements and died. So, I don’t think any of us would be sorry if he was not in a condition to fire upon our searchers this morning.”

 

DID RANGERS HAVE ANY IDEA HE WAS HEADING TO THE PARK?

“We did not have any indication he was heading to the park. What happened yesterday morning is that we had a check point between Longmire and Paradise where we were making sure people had the proper tires and tire chains for their vehicles? This is very common in the wintertime. The most common thing that our law enforcement rangers do in the wintertime is pull people out of ditches and call the tow trucks. The most effective way to prevent that is to make sure that people have the proper gear in their cars. We set up a checkpoint, we make sure people have that information, make sure people have the gear that they need.

 

“This vehicle blew threw the checkpoint, didn’t stop. Ranger Camiccia, who was manning the checkpoint, pursued. He took off at a high rate of speed. Ranger Camiccia called for backup and another ranger, ranger Kraig Snure, began coming up from the lower area at Longmire. And Margaret Anderson was patrolling at Paradise, she began down from Paradise. She set up a road block at Barn Flat about a mile below Paradise. Ranger Camiccia came up from the south. The confronted him together. I understand he (the shooter) jumped out of the car, he fired on the vehicles and Ranger Camiccia was able to get away, but she (Anderson) was hit while she was in her vehicle.

 

HOW MANY RANGERS WORKING IN THE PARK?

 

“The number of rangers working in the park varies from season to season. That is a very good question. I should find out. Typically in the summertime we will have 200 rangers at full staff, a lot of those are seasonal rangers who only work during the summer time. It is a much smaller staff in the winter.

 

ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF GUESTS IN THE PARK?

“We are definitely concerned about the safety of the individuals out at Reflection Lake because there is a possibility that they are in the area where Mr. Barnes might end up. And that is why we are going out to contact them and escort them out of the park. Other than them we are not really concerned. Everybody who was in the park has been escorted out.

 
“Anybody who goes out in the backcountry is required to get backcountry permits. This is part of the reason why we want to make sure we keep track of people in the backcountry. Make sure they come back out safely. And we also want to make sure we protect the resources out there and protect wilderness experience. We do not allow too many people at one place at one time so we don’t have a city out there for people who are looking for a backcountry experience.

 

“We also know that there were three vehicles in the parking lots last night. We were able to track those vehicles. Two of them up at Paradise and those were the those two groups heading up to Camp Muir. And one vehicle at Narada Falls and they were the ones that were headed out … to spend the night at reflection lake.

 

HOW BIG IS THE PARK?

“The park is 389 square miles so it is a big place.

 

“The location where he is, he is bounded by Mount Rainier on the north side. On the south side there is a horseshoe shaped range called the Tatoosh Mountains. They get up to about 6,000 feet or so. There is a wilderness area south of that and some Forest Service area before you get down to Highway 12 and communities like Packwood and Randle. To the east there is about 10 miles of what in the wintertime is National Park wilderness, Stevens Canyon. So he would have to travel six or 10 miles on foot through, at least at higher elevations, deep snow in order to get back out to any populated areas.

 

“Because of the roughness of the terrain, because of the wilderness, because of the mountain surrounding it, there is not cell service most places up there. If you get high enough you could hit a cell tower. You can get one or two bars at Paradise for example if you hold up a piece of tinfoil and angle your head the right way.

 

ARE THE RANGERS ARMED?

 

“The rangers who are out looking for him are armed.”

 

WHAT ABOUT THOSE AT THE ROAD BLOCKS?

“The law enforcement rangers at Mount Rainier are armed. They are commissioned law enforcement officers. They are trained. They carry weapons. They wear body armor. They are full law enforcement officer, the same as you would find in a more urban community.”

 

WAS MARGARET WEARING BODY ARMOR?

“I do not know for sure if she was wearing body armor, but I would say almost for certain she was. That is part of the usual uniform.”

 

“She is a law enforcement ranger. Yes. And she was shot as she was in the car. I do not know if she had her weapon drawn or if she was able to fire, but my understanding from what I have heard is that she was shot in her vehicle before she even had a chance to get out. What I have been told by those who have investigated up there, including Ed Troyer with Pierce County, is that the shooter pulled up did a U-turn, jumped out of his car and fired on the two ranger vehicles. And shot them through their vehicles.

 

“Ranger Camiccia’s vehicle was shot at threw the front windshield. And I understand that Margaret’s vehicle was shot at threw the door.

 

“I don’t know if she was shot threw the window of the door or threw the panel of the door. I do not know those details.”

 

DID RANGER CAMICCIA FIRE ANY SHOTS?

“I do not know.

 

“I know that when he was fired upon he put his vehicle in reverse and backed out of there. I don’t know the details of what happened after that.

 

“The suspect then left his vehicle there and then fled into the snowy forest.”

 

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO GET BACK TO RESCUE RANGER ANDERSON?

 

“We had rangers on seen. Ranger Camiccia was there and Ranger Snure showed up shortly there after and then Pierce County law enforcement arrived soon after that. I don’t know the details of when exactly they arrived, but I’ve been told that it took them about 90 minutes to secure the situation enough to get Margaret out.

 

“Ranger Camiccia is uninjured.”

 

PLANS FOR TODAY

“The plan for today is that searches will be conducted both on the ground and in the air. There are about 200 people that are engaged in the effort today all told. There are both fixed wing and helicopter aircraft helping with the search. Some of which are equipped with devises like infrared. I know that we have K-9 units. Our searchers are on snowshoes, so they had the advantage in that regard.”

 

OTHER CONCERNS?

“The concern is that we know where he is and to make sure that he does not escape into an area where he can cause more harm to people. That is the No. 1 concern as well as the safety of our people and making sure that there are no more causalities. … My guess is that they’d be happy to just sit out and let nature take its course if that was the safest way to bring him to justice. Let him walk out on his own or let nature take its course.”

 

ROUTINE SAFETY CHECK?

“It is definitely disheartening.”

 

COULD YOU GET TO RANGER ANDERSON IN THE FIRST 90 MINUTES?

“We could not get to Ranger Anderson in the first 90 minutes because anybody who attempted to was fired upon. So the shooter was somewhere up there still and continued firing on people who attempting to get to Margaret and help her.”