SEATTLE (AP) — Nearly a week after an Iraq War veteran shot dead a park ranger on New Year’s Day, Mount Rainier National Park has reopened to the public.
Saturday’s somber reopening will be followed with a candle light vigil in nearby Eatonville on Sunday for Margaret Anderson, who was killed by 24-year-old Benjamin Colton Barnes.
Authorities say Barnes fled to the park after a shooting in Skyway the night before left four injured. He drove his vehicle through a check point and when Anderson tried to stop him, he sprayed her vehicle with bullets, killing her inside.
A manhunt on the mountain ensued, trapping some visitors inside.
Barnes was found dead in a creek the following day. An autopsy said he drowned.
Anderson, 34, left behind two children and her husband, who also works as a ranger at the park.
