Mount Vernon, Washington, US
Civilian
Deputy Sherrif, Skagit County Sherrif’s Department
Alger, US, 09/02/2008
Deputy Anne Jackson was shot and killed after responding to a disturbance at a residence in the small town of Alger. When dispatchers were unable to reach her another deputy was sent to the location and found her body, along with a second shooting victim.
She joined the sheriff’s office in 2002 as an animal control officer and became a deputy in 2005. A suspect was located and led responding officers on a pursuit down I-5 in which he wounded a Washington State Patrol trooper and fatally shot another motorist. He turned himself at the county sheriff’s office a short time later.
The ensuing investigation revealed that the suspect had also murdered three other people in two houses near the location where Deputy Jackson was killed at.
The suspect’s mother described Sheriff’s Deputy Jackson as a sympathetic figure who had responded to calls involving the suspect in the past and had tried to help the family.
‘She was very gracious,’ she said. ‘She knew exactly what we were going through.’
The officer’s best friend, Monique Stefans, said she had previously run a stables and was an accomplished horserider, adding: ‘She just loved being a deputy. She put her heart and soul into it.’
Statement from Deputy Jackson’s family:
We, the family of Anne Jackson, want to acknowledge and extend our profound gratitude to all those people, relatives, friends, complete strangers, and the law enforcement community, who have come forward to assist and comfort us at this tragic time.
From the depth of our grief, not only for Anne, but for all the families affected by this horrific event, we also want to say how proud we were, and are, of Anne. She was committed to her work in the finest sense. She saw her job as an opportunity to help the people of her community.
She was a cheerful and giving soul, loving and beloved. We know that she knew and had offered her personal help to the family of the man who committed this terrible act, because she had experienced the pain of a similar mental affliction suffered by her own brother. The sorrows and tragedies of mental illness affect the health of the whole community.
We wish to make it clear that we hold no animosity toward Isaac Zamora or his family.
Anne Jackson will be remembered with love and respect by everyone who knew her.”