Timothy Quinn Brenton

Police Officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed while sitting in his patrol car.

He was sitting in the passenger seat of a patrol car with a trainee discussing a just-completed traffic stop near the corner of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way when a vehicle pulled alongside the patrol car and an occupant opened fire. Officer Brenton was killed instantly. His trainee officer was grazed in the back by one shot. She was able to exit the patrol car, return fire several times at the fleeing vehicle, and call for additional units.

At the conclusion of Officer Brenton's public memorial service, detectives were following up on a tip, specifically about a vehicle matching the description of the vehicle seen at the incident, at an apartment in the city of Tukwila. The detectives confronted a person of interest as he stepped outside his apartment and approached the vehicle. The man pulled a gun and was shot and wounded before being taken into custody.

The 41-year-old suspect was also charged with the firebombing of Seattle police vehicles at a city maintenance facility nine days earlier. On July 23rd, 2015, he was convicted of murder, attempted murder, and arson. He was sentenced to life and died while in jail on January 18th, 2017.

Officer Brenton was a U.S. Army veteran of the Gulf War. He had served with the Seattle Police Department for nine years and had previously served with the La Conner Police Department. Survivors include his wife, son, daughter, mother, father, stepmother, brother, and sister. His father and uncle are retired Seattle police officers.