Pubdate: Wed, 03 Jul 2002
Source: Eastside Journal (WA)
Copyright: 2000 Horvitz Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.eastsidejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/985
Author: Noel S. Brady and Jamie Swift

DEPUTIES' SHOOTER ON GROUND WHEN SHOTS EXCHANGED

Slain Gunman Might Not Have Known Men Were Undercover Cops

MAPLE VALLEY -- King County sheriff's deputies wrestled Gary Dean Burow to 
the ground before he started shooting at them, a Sheriff's Office spokesman 
said yesterday.

Sgt. Greg Dymerski said Burow fired five or six rounds from his handgun 
while on the ground. His bullets struck three detectives before deputies 
opened fire and killed Burow.

He died from multiple gunshots to the head, the Medical Examiner's Office said.

The low angle from which Burow started shooting might explain why deputies 
fired multiple rounds into his head. It might also explain why one of 
Burow's shots struck a 29-year-old undercover narcotics detective in the 
abdomen just under his bulletproof vest.

In a press conference Monday, Dr. Timothy Pohlman said bullets appeared to 
enter the detective's abdomen and arm from a low angle.

Law officers are taught to fire at the "center of mass" to stop an oncoming 
attacker. Dymerski said the center of mass was the shooter's head in this 
case because he was kneeling or lying on the ground.

"You've got an active shooter, shooting at police officers," Dymerski said. 
"If I'm there I want to make sure I shoot the man to stop him."

Elaine Kraft, spokeswoman for County Executive Ron Sims, said Sims 
typically calls for an inquest into any fatal shooting by law officers, and 
this case probably won't differ. Usually, she said, Sims follows the 
recommendation of County Prosecutor Norm Maleng when it comes to calling 
for such an inquiry.

Deputies say Burow, 34, raised suspicions after he rode up on a motorcycle 
to the entrance of a rented property in Maple Valley where narcotics 
detectives had arrived with a search warrant nearly four hours earlier.

As deputies approached him, Burow smoked a cigarette with one hand and 
tucked his other hand in a jacket pocket. They ordered him to show his 
hand, but he refused, Dymerski said. That's when officers tried to put him 
to the ground and cuff him.

They scuffled, and Burow pulled a handgun and fired wildly and rapidly, 
hitting a 36-year-old detective in the foot, a 35-year-old detective in 
both thighs and a 29-year-old detective in the abdomen and left arm. The 
29-year-old remained in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center 
yesterday, while his fellow officers were in satisfactory condition.

The Sheriff's Office is withholding the identities of the injured deputies 
until after they're released from the hospital.

Dymerski said the 29-year-old and 35-year-old detectives are married but 
have no children. The other detective's marital status wasn't immediately 
known.

After searching a house on the Maple Valley property, detectives found 
relatively small amounts of methamphetamine, other narcotics and a few 
chemicals used in making meth. But they didn't find what they were looking 
for -- a working meth lab.

Dymerski said investigators still are trying to piece together the facts of 
the shooting. He said he's not sure if Burow knew that the three men who 
approached him were police.

Typically undercover detectives wear civilian clothing, but throw on a 
Sheriff's Office windbreaker when serving a warrant. Since they had been at 
the property for four hours and it was hot, he said, the detectives might 
have removed their windbreakers or other garb identifying them as deputies.

It also remains unclear which deputies shot Burow and how far away from him 
they were, Dymerski said.

At the time of the shooting, Burow was wanted by authorities for failing to 
appear at a sentencing hearing. He had been convicted by a jury in 
connection with an eight-hour armed stand-off with Auburn police in May 
2001. At that time, Burow threatened to shoot officers, but Dymerski said 
it doesn't appear that the shooting last weekend was intended to settle a 
score.

"It seems to be just a chance encounter, not anything targeted," he said. 
"We don't even know if Burow knew these guys were cops."

Burow also could have carried a grudge against sheriff's deputies because 
of the death of his stepson, Robert Harrison, who was shot by a deputy last 
New Year's Eve following a car chase in Auburn.

But John Strong, a friend of both Burow and Harrison, doubts that was a 
factor in Sunday's shootings.

"I'm sure he was really sad, really hurt and really pissed off when he 
heard they killed Robert," Strong said yesterday. "But I can't say he was 
out looking for revenge or anything."

Strong, 22, said Burow took him under his wing back in 1997. He hadn't seen 
much of Burow after Burow's standoff with Auburn police last year, though.

Still, Strong insisted Burow was "a good guy. He treated me and Robert 
good. ...

"Granted, he got messed up on drugs for a while; (he was) a little out of 
it for a while," Strong said. "But he always took care of his family. He 
always put food on the table."

However, Strong said he can speak from experience regarding methamphetamine 
and how it can transform someone's personality.

"It's nasty, it's gross," Strong said of meth. "It affects your decision 
making and it makes you paranoid. If Gary wasn't on it, he probably 
wouldn't have done what he did (in shooting the deputies). I know he 
wouldn't have done what he did."

Auburn Police Chief James Kelly yesterday said his department nearly caught 
Burow a few times in recent months.

In March, Auburn police recovered seven stolen vehicles from Burow's 
property in the 200 block of D Street Southwest. Police also found a meth 
lab there, but Burow was gone.

Prosecutors anticipate filing drug charges today against a 35-year-old man 
and a 42-year-old woman who were living at the Maple Valley address but 
weren't involved in the shooting.
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