KREM.com
Posted on January 2, 2012 at 1:08 PM
Ranger Margaret Anderson worked at Mt. Rainier National Park for four years before her tragic death Sunday, and in that time she made herself a beloved member of the tight-knit community.
Married to a fellow park ranger and mother to two young children ages 3 and 1, the 34-year-old Anderson lived in Eatonville with her family.
Anderson was shot on New Year's Day inside the park as she and a colleague tried to stop a car that had run through a safety check roadblock. The alleged shooter, 24-year-old Benjamin Colton Barnes, fled into the park. A law enforcement officer said Barnes was found dead in the park on Monday morning.
Anderson was the youngest of three children, her father, Pastor Paul Kritsch said.
He said his daughter always had an interest in wildlife and the outdoors and wanted to help people and that's what finally led her to being a federal park ranger.
Wait staff at Cruiser?s Caf? in Eatonville said Anderson was a regular, often bringing in her two girls for some to-go food.
?Everyone is talking about her,? said Patty Wrzesien, waitress at the caf?. ?She was such a sweet sweet lady. We?re all angry at the guy [alleged shooter Benjamin Colton Barnes]. People are worried he?s going to come down off the mountain.?
An Eatonville Police officer was standing guard at the family?s home on Monday. The local fire chief said the family wants their privacy.
Park Ranger Kevin Bacher said park officials have designated personnel to assist Anderson's family, many of whom are traveling to the area from the East Coast. As of Monday morning, Bacher said he did not know what the family's plans for a memorial will be.
On Sunday night, Anderson's body was moved from the park to the Piece County Medical Examiner's Office.
Hundreds of condolences and tributes have been posted online on the Officer Down Memorial Page created in Anderson's memory.
The outgoing chair of a national organization of Park Service retirees on Monday said Congress should be regretting its decision to allow loaded weapons in national parks.
Bill Wade called Sunday's fatal shooting of a Park Service ranger at Mount Rainier National Park a tragedy that could have been prevented.
He said he hopes Congress will reconsider the law that took effect in early 2010, but doubts that will happen in today's political climate.
His organization, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, advocated against the gun law, calling it a sad chapter in the history of the park system.
Wade is the former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park, just outside Washington, D.C., and started his career as a professional ranger at Mount Rainier.
Reporting by the Associated Press and KING 5's Jake Whittenberg.
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Source: http://www.krem.com/home/136540608.html
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