OLYMPIA, Wash. — On Friday, the state honored members of law enforcement who died while serving.
The names of seven law enforcement officers were added to the Washington State Law Enforcement Memorial., located on the Capitol campus. In addition, 18 officers received the state's Medal of Honor.
Officers killed in the line of duty being honored are:
Vancouver Officer Donald Sahota
End of Watch 1/29/2022
Officer Sahota was off duty when he was unintentionally shot and killed by a Clark County Sheriff's deputy.
Clark County Deputy John Feller shot Sahota near the front door of Sahota's home in Battle Ground on Jan. 29, 2022. Deputies were pursuing a fleeing robbery suspect and responded to Sahota's home, where they found him armed and struggling with the suspect. Sahota was stabbed by the suspect, who ran into Sahota's home. As Sahota was chasing him, Feller opened fire.
Earlier this year, a panel tasked with reviewing Sahota's death could not reach a consensus on whether Feller acted in good faith. The deputy won't be criminally charged, according to prosecutors.
Pierce County Deputy Dominique Calata
End of Watch 3/16/2022
Deputy Calata, 35, died after being shot during a SWAT operation in Spanaway on March 15, 2022.
The South Sound Gang Task Force was serving a warrant for second-degree assault on 40-year-old Jeremy Dayton. The task force had asked for help from the Pierce County Sheriff's Department's SWAT team due to Dayton's prior felony convictions, according to Wendy Haddow, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department, which is assisting with the investigation.
During the operation, gunfire was exchanged between Dayton and law enforcement, Haddow said. Calata and Sergeant Rich Scaniffe were shot. Dayton was killed at the scene.
Everett Officer Daniel Rocha
End of Watch 3/25/2022
Officer Rocha was killed in March of 2022 when he confronted Richard Rotter about moving guns between vehicles outside a north Everett Starbucks.
Rotter was convicted on April 3 of aggravated first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
During sentencing, Rocha's sister, Morgan, said the decision to take her brother's life was Rotter's alone.
"The shots he fired caused a ripple and tear through every person who met and loved Dan," she said.
Bellevue Officer Jordan T. Jackson
End of Watch 11/21/2022
Officer Jackson was riding his department motorcycle on Bellevue Way on Monday, Nov. 21 when he struck a car pulling out of a parking lot and onto the roadway.
Jackson was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries.
Jackson's death was the first line of duty death for the Bellevue Police Department in its 69-year history.
Special deputies George Yeaman and John Mines
Mines' end of watch: 07/19/1946. Yeaman's end of watch: 07/22/1946.
According to the Behind the Badge Foundation, Deputy Yeaman was killed in a plane crash near Stirrup Lake while they were conducting an aerial search for another missing plane.
Mines was killed on impact. Yeaman died in the hospital three days later.
Stevens County Deputy Horace P. Stewart
End of watch: 02/18/1867
Deputy Stewart was shot and killed while trying to calm a group of drunk soldiers who were partying, according to the Behind the Badge Foundation. The soldier who shot Stewart was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
