On a cold January night in 2018, the life of 34-year-old Daniel McCartney, a Caucasian male, was tragically cut short. On January 7th, while on duty as a Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy, he responded to a 911 call about a home invasion in the Frederickson area, near Spanaway, Washington. The call came in around 11:30 p.m., with dispatchers hearing screams and sounds of a struggle in the background.
McCartney was the first to arrive at the scene on 200th Street East and quickly became involved in a foot pursuit of at least one of the suspects who had fled the home where three adults and two young children were being held by armed intruders.
Shortly after beginning the chase, McCartney radioed "shots fired." When other deputies arrived, they found him on the ground with a fatal gunshot wound. He was rushed to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, where he died in the early hours of the following morning. At the scene of the home invasion, authorities found one of the suspects, Henry Carden, deceased. It was later determined that although he had been shot multiple times by McCartney, Carden died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
A massive manhunt ensued for the second suspect who had fled the scene. The search concluded the next morning when a Washington State Trooper spotted a man matching the suspect's description. That man was identified as Frank William Pawul, who was 32 at the time. Pawul was taken into custody and subsequently charged with aggravated first-degree murder for Deputy McCartney's death.
In August 2018, Frank William Pawul pleaded guilty to the murder of Deputy Daniel McCartney and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Ballistics evidence confirmed that the bullet that killed McCartney was fired from a handgun found along a trail of belongings linked to Pawul. Investigators believe that Pawul ambushed McCartney during the pursuit. In addition to Pawul, two women, Brenda Troyer and Samantha Jones, were also charged in connection with the crime, accused of being accomplices. Troyer was believed to have been the getaway driver. McCartney, a Navy veteran, was survived by his wife and three young sons.
