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Police chief had sought help for stressChief dies after shooting self, wife; wife critical
GIG HARBOR, Washington (AP) -- Before shooting his estranged wife and killing himself, Tacoma, Washington, Police Chief David Brame had sought professional counseling to help deal with the stress of his impending divorce, a city official said Sunday. City Manager Ray Corpuz said Brame also went to an FBI seminar in January on emotional survival training for law enforcement officers. Brame was so impressed, Corpuz said, he arranged to have the instructor come to Tacoma in March to provide the training for his department. "What makes this situation particularly difficult to understand is that Chief Brame recognized and was concerned about how emotional stress can affect police officers," Corpuz said. David Brame, 44, was pronounced dead Saturday evening at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma after shooting his estranged wife, Crystal Brame, and then himself in a shopping center parking lot. Crystal Brame, 35, was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. Hospital officials were not releasing any information, but television news reports said she was in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head. The chief and his wife, who had been going through a divorce, arrived in the parking lot in separate cars in what appeared to be a prearranged meeting Saturday afternoon, said Pierce County Sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer. The couple's two children -- an 8-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy -- were initially in Crystal Brame's vehicle. At one point, the chief put the children in his car, then went back to his wife's car and got inside. A heated conversation ensued, then witnesses reported hearing two quick shots, Troyer said. Medics found Crystal Brame lying on the pavement beside her car with the driver's door open. The chief was found slumped over inside the car with a gunshot wound to the head, Troyer said. The children ran toward their mother's car after hearing the shots, Troyer said. "I heard one of the children say, 'Daddy shot Mommy,' ... words to that effect," said Dana Mossman, who was standing in front of a coffee shop when she heard a "pop, pop" sound and then saw a woman lying in a pool of blood. Another woman in the parking lot scooped up the children and took them into a video store in the strip mall.
Police recovered a Glock .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun from the crime scene, but authorities would not say whether it was the chief's service weapon. The couple's two children, Haley and David, Jr., were reportedly staying with Crystal Brame's parents. The bloodshed came a day after the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that documents in the couple's divorce case revealed a history of domestic violence. Crystal accused her husband of pointing his gun at her, trying to choke her in November and saying he "could snap my neck if he wanted to." It was the fourth time in 2002 that he had tried to choke her, she said, noting that each time he had sent her flowers to apologize. David Brame claimed he had been victimized in the relationship. He accused his wife of having a "ferocious temper" and being emotionally unstable. In court papers, Brame said his wife scratched, bruised and pushed him during two fights in September 1996. In her court filings, Crystal Brame, said her husband refused to let her use their credit card without permission, checked her car's odometer to monitor trips to the grocery store and left his loaded service revolver on a bedroom shelf within reach of their two children. Shortly before they separated in February, Brame pointed his service revolver at her, "telling me, 'Accidents happen,"' according to the court documents. The incidents were not reported to police and Brame denied choking or pointing his gun at his wife. Crystal Brame filed a sworn statement on March 26, stating that Brame threatened her again, court papers said. She indicated she might ask for a restraining order, but the court file does not reflect that she actually did so. "It's a bad day for law enforcement," Troyer said. "This is somebody everybody knew and respected." "These are the kinds of things that are just nightmares," Mayor Bill Baarsma told a television station. "He was a proud and loving father. It was a beautiful couple." Brame rose through the ranks to become police chief in January 2002. He was among officials who announced that a witness came forward with evidence that could tie two shootings in Tacoma to Washington, D.C.-area sniper shooting suspects John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. Catherine Woodard, assistant chief for criminal investigations, was named acting police chief. She is the first woman to head the police force in Tacoma, a city of 194,000. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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