Security guard shot and killed at Eastern State Hospital remembered as ‘tenacious’ roller derby player, kind soul

On the roller derby track, Colleen Hendrickson-Bass was a “tenacious” player whose bright pink helmet could be picked out of the crowded playing surface, according to teammates.

Off it, she was kind, happy and always willing to lend a hand.

Hendrickson-Bass, 57, was working as an Eastern State Hospital security guard in the early Saturday hours when she was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Medical Lake psychiatric hospital. The man suspected of shooting her exchanged gunfire with a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office deputy, the sheriff’s office said. The shooter died at the scene.

Deirdre Farnsworth, Hendrickson-Bass’ sister, described her sister as a “social butterfly” who helped anyone she could.

“She always had a smile on her face and she was funny, and she was kind,” Farnsworth said.

Hendrickson-Bass, of Cheney, lived most of her life in the Spokane area and graduated from Central Valley High School, Farnsworth said. She was divorced and is survived by two grown children.

She said they stayed close over the years, and she even talked to her two days before she was killed when Hendrickson-Bass dropped Farnsworth’s daughter off at Farnsworth’s home.

Farnsworth said she was shocked when she learned her sister died.

“It was hard to process what had happened,” she said.

Farnsworth said her sister was active, often going on walks and to the gym.

She also played in the Lilac City Roller Derby league and went by the nickname, “BomBASStic.”

Grace Nall, marketing director at Lilac City Roller Derby, called Hendrickson-Bass a reliable teammate.

“She was one of those teammates you could always trust and come to and just talk to about anything because she kind of just sat there and listened, which was really, really cool,” Nall said.

Nall described a time over a year ago when Hendrickson-Bass helped Nall, who was recovering from a broken leg at the time, move out of her apartment. It was a “big favor,” because Nall said it took all day, and Hendrickson-Bass had to drive back and forth from Cheney to Spokane.

“She never expected anything in return for her kindness,” Nall said.

Jenna Carroll, who was captain of Hendrickson-Bass’ team last year, said Hendrickson-Bass’ acts of kindness extended to her final days. At Thursday’s practice, someone forgot their helmet, and Hendrickson-Bass offered her extra helmet.

“She was a really bright light, and she was a really wonderfully kind person,” Carroll said.

On the track, Nall said Hendrickson-Bass had a “quiet, peaceful strength to her.”

She said you wouldn’t expect Hendrickson-Bass to be as powerful as she was because she was one of the older members in the league. Many of the Lilac City Roller Derby players are under 35 because of the fast-paced nature of the contact sport.

“She’s very quiet, but she was such a powerhouse when it came to playing roller derby,” Nall said.

Carroll said Hendrickson-Bass’ No. 16 jersey was the only number she associated with the 57-year-old. She said playing at her age is impressive because it’s a difficult, “scary” sport where players crash into each other on skates.

“She was super tenacious,” Carroll said.

Nall said Hendrickson-Bass’ hot pink helmet stood out among her teammates who mostly wore darker helmets.

“You always knew it was BomBASStic because she was in the hot pink helmet with a smile on her face,” she said.

Carroll said she was shocked by the shooting Saturday, the day before the team’s final home game of the season at Roller Valley in Spokane Valley.

Carroll led everyone in a moment of silence before Sunday’s game, and then the players skated one lap around the track to honor their fallen teammate. Carroll said she was honored to read Hendrickson-Bass’ last “call out,” but it was also “heartbreaking.”

“Doing that I think helped us realize like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re not gonna get to see her again. We’re gonna be looking for her pink helmet for a while and it’s not gonna be there,’ ” Carroll said.

Carroll said Lilac City Roller Derby will retire Hendrickson-Bass’ No. 16, likely at the start of next season.

Joshua Awesome, Hendrickson-Bass’ stepbrother and Lilac City Roller Derby mascot, said he reconnected with his stepsister a couple years ago when she started skating with the Spokane league. Awesome said he would chat with Hendrickson-Bass at family events but really bonded with her recently.

“It was just neat to get to see this spunky, fun side of her that you don’t really see in family reunions at Christmas and Thanksgiving,” Awesome said. “This is a vivacious woman who is growing and learning in life. It was just really exciting to get to see her in a totally different light than I ever got the opportunity before.”

He said the roller derby community is a huge family, and its members adored Awesome’s stepsister.

“She has a big family in this community that really miss her,” Awesome said.

He said his stepsister was kind, gentle and a “breath of fresh air.”

“You just never anticipate that something like this will happen or that somebody is even gonna disappear from your life, and so it’s just another beautiful reminder that life is very fragile,” he said. “It’s very short.”

He said they talked about having a dinner and game night together, but it never came to fruition, which is a shame.

“Hold onto your loved ones daily and don’t wait,” he said. “Make things happen … We have to make things happen, because we don’t know if we’re ever gonna see any individual in our life ever again.”

Meanwhile, the shooter, whose identity has not been released, may have been involved in a nearby brush fire and shooting inside a Medical Lake home leading up to the killing, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office said the shooter made statements about aliens and an army coming right before his death.

Jessica Nelson, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, said the agency could not disclose whether the suspect was a current or former patient of Eastern State Hospital due to “strict confidentially.” Nelson also deferred to investigators on the identity of the suspect.

Nelson said support services are being provided to staff through the Eastern State Hospital Critical Incident Stress Management Team with support from the CISM team at the state Department of Corrections. Staff at the facility can access the Employee Assistance Program, which is free and confidential, as well as the facility’s spiritual care services.

While there is no ongoing threat, Nelson said law enforcement has increased patrols at both Eastern State Hospital and the adjacent Lakeland Village facility. Additional security personnel from DSHS have also traveled to Eastern State Hospital to “provide support and an increased presence.”

Spokesman-Review reporter Mitchell Roland contributed to this report.