The University of Idaho Argonaut

He thought he had more time.
“We talked a little bit,” said Sheriff’s Deputy Brannon Jordan about slain Moscow Police Officer Lee Newbill. “I knew him, but not as well as I would have liked. I just thought I had more time. It didn’t turn out that way.”
The night of May 19, 2007 was unlike any other in the history of Moscow. In fact, Assistant Police Chief David Duke said the people in the quiet, friendly, college town have never seen one worse.

Pain, fear, anguish and heartbreak were the most common emotions running through officers and citizens following the shooting spree, but Sheriff Wayne Rausch felt something different: infuriation.
“I was so angry,” he said. “It’s bad enough that officers have to go into dangerous situations every day where they don’t know what’s around the next corner, but it’s twice as bad when (the venue) under attack is the place they call their office.”

The ambush-suicide of 36-year-old Jason Hamilton left his wife, Crystal, Moscow Police Officer Lee Newbill and First Presbyterian Church Sexton Paul Bauer dead and several others wounded. Duke said the city was in shock, but pulled together to get through the brutal time and search for a reason.

“The fact that an event like that occurred in our city was traumatic to the community,” he said. “The overall reaction was one of support, understanding and a want for answers for why this occurred.”

Duke said no one knows exactly why Hamilton went on the ambush. He said the actions of were “his alone” and the reason for using deadly force to deal with an apparent “vendetta” against the community and its law enforcement is unknown.

“We don’t know what caused him to go into that state of mind,” he said. “There has been speculation based on his past experiences with the criminal justice system as well as different associations and activities he had, but no one can ever know for sure.”

Duke said the tragedy served as a wake up call and proved no city is protected from this type of trauma. The former Oklahoma City resident said he moved to Moscow to get the wonderful quality of life it provides. He said he doesn’t think the events on May 19 have altered our wholesome environment.

“You’re in a rural area here, but you still have a lot of the basic accommodations that a city provides,” he said. “Our biggest complaint here is loud noise. We live in a community with only 500 thefts a year, most of which are bikes. (Moscow citizens) leave their keys in their cars and house doors unlocked. Most everyone feels safe here and it’s our job to make that continue.”

One thing that should ensure the community’s sense of security is how well law enforcement handled the shoot out. Duke and Rausch agreed that officers reacted to the events to the best of their ability. Duke said debriefs informed them they “did the right thing.”

“Upon review of the actual incident, it was noted that (the law enforcement on scene) followed the best practices the nation recognizes,” he said. “There are things we could have done better, as far as what officers could have done to keep themselves safer, but overall, it was a job well done.”
Aside from carrying out top of the line procedures, Duke said the officers also displayed an admirable amount of courage and dignity throughout the healing process. He said the loss of “one of their own” shook the close knit environment of the police department, but they “continued to be a professional group responding to the Newbill family, their own families and service the entire community.”

“Officers continued to perform their jobs, and displayed a lot of courage up though the memorial service,” he said. “They just tried to do they best they could.”
Duke said the tragedy motivated the department to emphasize and continue to teach officer safety tactics. Officers typically approach every situation with little knowledge about the scene and they train to prepare themselves for anything.

“We were operating on limited information,” he said. “It would be nice to have the details prior to pulling a car over or entering a domestic dispute, but we don’t, and we respond accordingly. It takes exemplarily courage to actually go into that type of environment.”

As for Duke’s personal opinion on their strategy, he was proud. He said officers put themselves in the direct line of fire, heading toward the threat, in order to protect citizens from being harmed.
“I believe we did the right thing. People were in danger and we responded to them,” he said. “Some question why officers responded up there in the manner they did. It was just the way they were trained. We did the best we could with the resources we had.”

Duke and Rausch said no policies have been rewritten as a result of the shoot out, but additional training has been given. In the beginning of April, officers participated in a week long Active Shooter Training, which Duke said provided participants with a great learning opportunity.
“It (is the type of) training that brings us up-to-date on current aspects (of the industry),” he said. “We go over recent scenarios and how other departments responded. Giving new officers hands-on training instead of looking at a computer or taking a course online is efficient. They actually get to go out and practice.”

One thing Duke said the community is working to address is the weaknesses in the mental health system to help people like Hamilton before it’s too late.
“We’ve started mental health court, and asked for additional resources from the state,” he said. “We’re making improvements within our community and state as a whole.”

Although the shooting brought about some positive changes and formed bonds with law enforcement and residents, it left pain and the community is still in the healing process.
“(The MPD) is like a family of officers. This affected everyone, and everyone is at a different stage (in the healing process),” Duke said. “As the day of May 19 gets closer, it brings back events from that night like they occurred yesterday.”

Rausch said the Latah County Sheriff’s Office took this year to grieve and are finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.
“I think we’re getting close. If I were to put it numerically, 7/8 of the way out of it,” he said. “We’ve passed a large portion (of the pain.) Some of the things that continue to bring it to the front are unavoidable and conducive to healing. Slowly, it will become a memory.”

There is one thing that dredges up the details of that horrific night for Rausch’s men — their office. During the shooting, Hamilton shot up several sheriff cars, the dispatch center and the entryway of the building, leaving the staff a continuous physical reminder of the attack. Rausch said the majority of the exterior damage (including the vehicles) have been repaired and covered by insurance. The inside, however, is a different story.
“There are still some bullet holes in the bricks,” he said. “There is still damage in the office, walls that need to be repainted. A good chunk of change was used to put bullet proof glass in the entry way, but there are still some bullet holes in the bricks.”
Rausch said it makes healing pretty tough when reminders are constantly in the face of survivors.

“To me, it’s just not fair to have the people who went through this trauma seeing the damage everyday,” he said. “We’re coming in on a year now, and we still see some of the effects of this.”

The Sheriff’s Department wasn’t the only target of Hamilton’s ammunition: the First Presbyterian Church also took a hit and lost one of its own, Sexton Paul Bauer.

For the first few weeks following the massacre, services were held off-site. The church hosted prayer sessions on their lawn inviting any and everyone to join and mourn together. The church created a retreat for their community to discuss the incident and are set to plant a tree in Bauer’s honor in May.

“It was an incredibly strange and difficult time,” Pastor Norman Fowler told the Spokesman-Review in December. “But I think, as a church, we’ve pulled together pretty well and are moving along in a pretty reasonable way. Like with anything of that magnitude, it’s something that continues to be with you. Although, I think, for the church anyway, we’ve not let it be something that defines us but just something that was a part of our life.”
While the shooting may have horrified civilians, it was something every officer takes a chance on each time they’re on patrol. Duke said all officers have a constant sense of danger in their minds, and May 19 proved why.

“We are in a profession that puts our lives in danger every day,” he said. “No one wants to make that ultimate sacrifice, but it is part of our job and it could happen any day while you’re out there in the street. You never know what is out there or what’s going to happen.”