TACOMA — Two former Pierce County sheriff’s deputies are suing the county, saying the agency tried to cover up how a man who killed his wife and himself obtained the gun he used in the killings.
The News Tribune reports that in the lawsuit filed March 12 deputies Daniel Bray and Joey Tracy said that hours before the shooting, another deputy let the shooter take the weapon even though he was subject to a protection order. Bray and Tracy also say the sheriff’s office forced them out on trumped up disciplinary charges because they tried to bring attention to the issue.
Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer rejected the allegations Friday, saying where the shooter got the gun was documented in police reports. He said the pair have been the subject of 10 internal affairs investigations, and the county is considering filing counter-lawsuits against them.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for wrongful termination, emotional distress and other causes.
