SEATTLE – The two Pierce County Sheriff's deputies who were shot Monday night have both cheated death in the past.
In 1998, Deputy Kent Mundell had a close call off the job when the small plane he was piloting lost power and made an emergency landing in a Pierce County field.
Friends say Mundell isn't a risk taker, rather an everyday guy who would host backyard barbecues and play Frisbee with the kids.
Mundell, 44, is the father of a 16-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy.
Mundell's Spanaway neighborhood is home to three law enforcement familes, including Mona Mulloy's. Her husband patrols the streets of Yelm.
"Heartbreak for the family," said Malloy, who lives across the cul-de-sac from Mundell.
In the Eatonville neighborhood of Sgt. Nick Hausner, flags still fly in honor of the four Lakewood police officers murdered three weeks ago.
Hausner, 43, is the father of a 14-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy.
A handwritten sign on the family's front door reads "We went to see our daddy." Larry Baker helped care for those kids when word came last night their father had been shot.
"We just tried to comfort them any way we can. When they heard he wasn't critical, they seemed to be better," said Baker.
Folks here say Hausner is well-respected. His kids raised funds for a local food bank this Christmas.
In 1999, Hausner rolled his patrol car three times while avoiding a truck that was illegally hauling a mobile home at night.
"Had I not been wearing my seatbelt, I think I would have been ejected from the vehicle and possibly even killed," said Hausner, then.
The shooting has police families everywhere praying the unimaginable doesn't ever happen to them.
"I just told my son last night, don't ever let him leave the house without telling him how much you love him. Might be the last time you see him alive," said Mulloy.
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