Written by
The Associated Press
Mount Rainier National Park
MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Wash. (AP) -- Authorities confirmed Monday afternoon that a body found on the slopes of Mount Rainier National Park was that of an Iraq War veteran suspected in the slaying of a park ranger.
Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, is believed to have fled to the remote park to hide after an earlier shooting at a New Year's house party near Seattle that wounded four, two critically. Authorities believe he shot ranger Margaret Anderson later Sunday.
Fear that tourists could be caught in the crossfire in a shootout with Barnes, who had survivalist training, prompted officials to hold more than a 100 people at the visitors' center before evacuating them in the middle of the night.
The Associated Press