Charges In Fatal Shootout Delayed Until Suspect Heals

Charges in the death of a popular Pierce County sheriff’s deputy likely will not be filed until his suspected assailant has completed hospital treatment for his wounds, prosecutors say.

Brian Eggleston, 25, was shot four times in the shootout that erupted during a Monday drug raid at his parents’ east Tacoma home.

Deputy John Bananola, 36, shot 10 times in the head and torso, was pronounced dead at Madigan Army Medical Center, where Eggleston was in stable condition Tuesday. Authorities said 27 shots were fired in the shootout.The shooting is being investigated by the sheriff’s office, Tacoma police and the county medical examiner’s office.

A law-enforcement informer had bought marijuana from Eggleston “a number of times” and authorities were serving a search warrant when the shootings occurred, said sheriff’s department spokesman Curt Benson.

Because the informer had said there were weapons in the house, authorities planned a surprise raid. Bananola, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was the first officer through the door after members of a six-man team knocked at the door and identified themselves as police officers.

Bananola, an Air Force veteran and former county corrections officer, became a deputy in 1991 and was well-liked.