Tacoma police chief shoots wife, kills himself

Seattle Post-Intelligencer ^

[FITZ]

that Crystal Brame, 35, had obtained a temporary restraining order in February against her husband.

Not in this case ---it seems that she made the mistake of continuing to see a man who abused her, it's difficult to understand the motives of a woman who fears a man, gets a restraining order, and then breaks the restraining order herself by agreeing to meet him in a parking lot. The same thing happened here ---there was a restraining order the but woman herself actually called the man up, agreed to meet him in some secluded parking lot with the kids and same thing happened ---he killed her. The fact that she was a Mexican national might mean he thought he'd have a nice submissive, obedient wife and he found out they aren't all as submissive as he hoped.

[FirstTomato]

The lawyer industry and the psychological industry are a horror, especially the psych industry.

Family, friends, faith--that is what will make the difference. No lawyers or psychologists.

[FITZ]

It was the fourth time that year he'd tried to choke her, each time sending flowers later to apologize, she said.

In this case, it seems she was going back over and over ---as the advice for daughters goes --"he hits you once, it's his fault, if he hits you twice, it's your fault". I see this guy accused her of abusing him also ---and she may have ---but then he should have already divorced her for that right after it happened.

[Ima Lurker]

Hey.....HE shot HER! Not the other way around. It doesn't matter what she did or didn't do, she didn't deserve to be shot. If he wanted to kill himself fine and dandy but leave everyone else alone. He is not a victim....he is (was) a criminal.

[RIGHT IN SEATTLE]

I thought restraining orders jinxed any type of firearm possesion?

I guess you have to be a cop.

You get to point the gun at your wife, keep the gun, and keep your job as police chief.

[FirstTomato]

Yes, he was probably a victim, just as much a victim as the woman.

I think it is rare in any relationship like this where one person is the bad guy and the other is not. It takes two people to make this kind of horror.

People who have been in these situations as spouses think about this in one way, with blinders on.

But ask children who have lived under these conditions. There is always a dynamic that can't be explained in simplistic terms, and weapons (in the broadest sense) are used by both people. It is just that men often choose more lethal weapons, so automatically to much of society this makes them the bad guy. The truth is often quite different.

[marktwain]

A man shoots the mother of his children and then himself, in the middle of the afternoon, in front of his screaming children, in a strip mall parking lot, and a few people here are blaming divorce courts.

The man lost it. No screwed up court system causes this. Good grief.

A police officer shoots himself and the wife who started the process of taking him to a court system that he knows will destroy his life and family.

I don't know if the above is really the case, and it doesn't justify his actions, but desperate people do crazy things.

This guy may have been very wrapped up in his career. It sounds like it, but I don't know. I do know that if you back people into a corner, where they see no way out, and where they see no chance of justice, it is more likely for them to act in crazy ways.

Is it possible that this guy was an abuser? Sure.

Is it possible that he was a guy too wrapped up in his job and marriage who was pushed over the edge by his knowlege of how the current system works? Sure.

Will we ever know? Probably not.

P.S. There is no mention in the article that the children were screaming while he shot himself and his wife. That seems to be a pure additional emotional, gratuitous additon, and it seems highly unlikely, since the kids almost certianly did not know what was going on until it was over.

[firewalk]

Yes, he was probably a victim, just as much a victim as the woman.

No...he was not the "victim"...he pulled the trigger...

But ask children who have lived under these conditions. There is always a dynamic that can't be explained in simplistic terms, and weapons (in the broadest sense) are used by both people. It is just that men often choose more lethal weapons, so automatically to much of society this makes them the bad guy. The truth is often quite different.

Believe what you want...excuse away any crime you want...it is after all the victims fault. There are many men out there who own guns and no matter how much they want to...don't shoot the woman who pisses them off.

And I have lived under these "conditions" as you call them...

[Walnut]

the end for him (chief)

[cake_crumb]

"The lawyer industry and the psychological industry are a horror, especially the psych industry."

Absolutely. I've been railing against the psych industry for years. Particularly the state-run psyche industry.

In the case of a divorce made into horror show by greedy lawyers, psychological evaluations are usually called for. Then evaluations of the kids. If they can manufacture a problem, socialist workers become involved. Nasty, evil, greedy lawyers have been known to sic Children' Services onto to whichever parent is not their client. It's an 'easy' way for them to win cases.

Once Children's Services smells the LEAST little chance to worm their way in, they do NOT let go of a case, and they RARELY help the affected children in any way.

Their sole purpose, as far as I have been able to ascertain, is to find families in trouble, hang around the house like the PC gestapo and manufacture problems. So they can maintain their level of government funding, because the entire state psych industry is funded by the number of cases currently open. It's in the best interests of job security for the socialist workers to create and keep as many cases as possible. Sort of like funding for public education, except that it's based on cases rathe than numbers of students.

Taxpaying parents going through divorce and being preyed upon by socialist workers as well as lawyers are funding this.

[Walnut]

the violence stopped as soon as they took the gun out of the Chiefs hand

[Walnut]

Your right. we have to stop puttng the blame in the wrong place and put it wher it belongs. On the person who committed the crime. In this case the Chief.

[FirstTomato]

There are lots of ways to murder people than to kill them.

The point I am making is not that this guy is innocent, but there is a reason behind what he did, and it is very likely that the woman contributed to it.

Take that as you may. I know that women often incite these problems by their own actions. And men often respond because their rights have been stripped, they have been attacked by our leftist womenized socity, and they feel they have no recourse.

Frankly, I think its terrible how women are allowed to get away with anything, as long as its technically not physically violent.

[HairOfTheDog]

I am a local that has hung out in the restaurant people ran into asking for help. A worker there that I know went out and held pressure on this woman's head. I have also seen all the TV reports from the scene where the other passers-by heard the children screaming "Daddy NO!" What they heard were two pops of gunfire and the children screaming.

I am sure the man felt his life was a mess. Most people who are married 11 years, have children and then divorce have a period of time when their life is a mess. People can and have lost their minds over a broken heart and a bad outlook on their future.

This man also made a good salary, could afford an attorney, and could work through it the way most of the men who go through this do, without shooting yourself and your children's mother in their presence.

I don't know if the woman was a bitch or not. Maybe they were both out of hand, most of the time these divorces are ugly it is a two way street. My brother said this morning, "Behind every murder/suicide are two people that were impossible to get along with.

But good grief. The worst court settlement in the world doesn't begin to take away from the madness this was.

What did this man think his children would do in the minutes following this act?

[GretchenEE]

"On Friday [shooting occurred the next day], the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that Crystal Brame, 35, had obtained a temporary restraining order in February against her husband."

I wonder if he might have been pushed over the edge by the knowledge that if his wife prevailed in court, his career would be over.

I watched this story unfolding last night. My gut then -- and now -- is that he snapped when it all hit the court papers (she hadn't put it in legal form till the day before he shot her). I also think he put the kids in his car, returned to her car and gave her an ultimatum to recant what she'd put into the court papers and let their lives go back to "normal" < gack >. When she refused, Bam.

There was an awful lot of cover being given by the Tacoma PD last night, portraying Brame as such a good guy. < double gack > No wonder Mrs. Good Guy didn't report this to the police but waited to put it into the court papers.

[Walnut]

I'm sorry but I disagree with you. Murders act alone to go the final step. what ever happened to walking away. ?If he met her in the parking lot with the gun on him ,it was premeditated. He had all intentions of killing her. first.

[GretchenEE]

Restraining orders are useless anyway. You're more likely to be dead long before the police respond. And when the plaintiff is the police chief...forget it.

This case brings me to conclude that when a police chief's wife is able to convince a duly-authorized court to issue a restraining order that is intended to keep her alive, the police chief should be placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by people over his pay grade.

[firewalk]

The point I am making is not that this guy is innocent, but there is a reason behind what he did, and it is very likely that the woman contributed to it

Instead of looking at the facts (the fact being that he shot this woman in front of their children) you're making excuses for him. He meant to kill her, he killed himself. He was not the victim, he was the person who attempted murder. Make all the excuses you want, if it makes you "feel" better...It still won't make it so...

[cynicom]

A cop would not lie to the court, would he?????

[Theodore R.]

Doesn't WA State already have some of the strictest gun-control laws anywhere? People in WA State believe in confiscation of "dangerous" firearms, except for some in the Spokane area, which is very isolated from the population center on the West Coast.