On Saturday, November 10, 1984, Wildlife Agent Terry L. Hoffer, 36, was killed while on patrol about nine miles southeast of Buckley, Washington. Hoffer and his partner, Agent Jim Suda, had stopped a Jeep on Saint Regis Paper Property for a routine license check when a single shot penetrated the patrol vehicle’s driver side door and struck Hoffer in the chest. He was taken to Enumclaw Hospital but died of the wound. Hoffer had served seven years with the Washington Department of Wildlife and was a married father of two daughters.

A witness behind the Jeep recorded its license plate, which led Pierce County deputies the next day to the registered owner’s home in Parkland. Two men from the Jeep, James Fischer and Frank McCormick, were arrested and an 8mm rifle recovered at the arrest scene. Authorities concluded the rifle discharged as Fischer attempted to unload it to avoid a misdemeanor for having a loaded firearm in the vehicle. Fischer was charged with first-degree manslaughter and later convicted of second-degree manslaughter and tampering with a witness; he received a 23-month prison sentence.