Click to copy

Memorial for slain Pierce County deputy underway

March 25, 2022 GMT

Pallbearers, selected by the family, carry the casket of Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy Dom Calata into the celebration of life ceremony at Church For All Nations in Parkland, Wash., on Friday, March 25, 2022. (Tony Overman/The News Tribune via AP)

Pallbearers, selected by the family, carry the casket of Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy Dom Calata into the celebration of life ceremony at Church For All Nations in Parkland, Wash., on Friday, March 25, 2022. (Tony Overman/The News Tribune via AP)

1 of 10

PARKLAND, Wash. (AP) — A memorial for slain Pierce County deputy Dominique “Dom” Calata was underway Friday in Tacoma.

Calata, 35, was shot and killed last week during a SWAT operation in which Sgt. Rich Scaniffe was shot and wounded.

A procession began Friday morning at the Washington State Fairgrounds, following a route that concluded at the Church for All Nations in Parkland. A memorial service started around 1 p.m. at the church.

The South Sound Gang Task Force was serving a warrant March 16 for second-degree assault for Jeremy Dayton, 40. The task force had asked for help from the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department’s SWAT team due to Dayton’s prior felony convictions, according to Wendy Haddow, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department, which is assisting with the investigation.

During the operation, gunfire was exchanged between Dayton and law enforcement, Haddow said. Calata and Scaniffe were shot. Dayton was killed at the scene.

Calata worked for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department for more than six years and was assigned to the patrol division of the Edgewood Police Department. He was also a U.S. Army Veteran and served in the National Guard for the past seven years.

Calata was married and had a 4-year-old child.