Trooper Dean Atkinson, wounded in the line of duty Thursday, has deep roots in Walla Walla | Local
Trooper Dean Atkinson Jr., 27, was shot and wounded Thursday evening, Sept. 22, at Walla Walla. It’s where he grew up. People here know him well.
So well that one of his high school coaches wasn’t surprised Atkinson drove himself to the hospital after being shot in the face.
After being flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, he was listed Saturday in stable condition.
Atkinson
A four-sport athlete
Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Atkinson attended Walla Walla High School from 2009 to 2013. He was an active student, playing football, basketball and golf for the Blue Devils.
“He was a very competitive guy,” said John Golden, who coached Atkinson’s basketball team but has since retired. “And he was a consume team player. Anything that needed to be done, anything we needed, he was willing to do it, and he was a valuable member of our team.”
“It’s not surprising to see how those kinds of traits he showed in high school stand out in his personal and professional life today,” Golden added. “I was not surprised reading the accounts, that he was able to get himself to the hospital.”
He was a standout player for the school’s golf team — he was named to the all-Mid-Columbia Conference second team — and the football team, being named to the all-Mid-Columbia Conference first team.
“He’s the kind of kid that as a parent you want your kids to grow up to be like,” said Eric Hisaw, who was Atkinson’s football coach. “He was humble, gracious, hard-working and patient with everyone. When people talked to Dean, they left feeling like he cared about him.”
FILE — Wa-Hi kicker Dean Atkinson Jr. (10) attempts a field goal against the Hanford Falcons Friday, September 20, 2012.
While preparing for Class 4A state golf championships in 2013, Atkinson drove with a long-time friend to his Army recruiter’s office in Kennewick, then carpooled to Yakima to take part in an Army National Guard unit’s weekend drills. There he would march, undergo physical training, and learn how to exit a barracks quickly, all before the sun had risen, the Union Bulletin reported in 2013.
It was part of the Recruit Sustainment Program, an Army National Guard program designed to prepare recruits for the rigors of Army basic training, which Atkinson planned to undertake before enrolling at Walla Walla Community College.
“I loved it, I had a blast,” Atkinson said of the training in 2013. “When I was there at drill I had to be focused. We didn’t do anything too crazy, but when you’re doing PT you have to do everything correctly, every rep. So I think that helped keep me on edge, helped me focus a little bit more.”
After training ended that Sunday afternoon, Atkinson met up with then-Wa-Hi golf coach Jim Smith, who drove with Atkinson to practice a few rounds on Camas Meadows, east of Vancouver, Washington, where the state championships would be held.
Moving quickly
Things were going to move quickly for Atkinson after the tournament. Soon he would walk across the stage to receive his diploma, and less than a month after that he was going to be shipped out for Basic Combat Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
He had sworn his oath of enlistment earlier that year, but it was a next step that Atkinson had been eyeing for a long time.
“My dad has been a part of the National Guard for 27 years,” Atkinson said at the time. “I was born in a military hospital — it’s been a huge part of my life. I guess there’s no way I could not do it.”
After graduating from basic, Atkinson planned to attend Advanced Infantry Training and still be home in time for the winter quarter at Walla Walla Community College.
Central Washington University had recruited him as a preferred walk-on, the only kicker invited to walk on that year, Hisaw recalled. But he declined, which he told the Union-Bulletin was due to scheduling conflicts with his military training. Hisaw recalled that Atkinson had also been particularly interested in the community college’s EMT program — his father was not just a National Guardsman, after all, but a firefighter.
In 2013, Atkinson imagined that after community college, he might still attend CWU and pursue a career as a history teacher, he told the Union-Bulletin. Afterwards, he wanted to go to Officer Candidate School and earn a commission as an officer in the Army.
Between high school and college, Atkinson did join the National Guard, and chose as his military occupational specialty — his job — to be a motor transport operator.
In 2014, Atkinson got a job as a landscaper for Creekstone Gardens, a wedding and celebration venue near town.
A new career path
And in 2017, he chose a different career path than the one he had contemplated years earlier as a high school senior.
He enrolled at the Washington State Patrol Academy. In June, 2018, Atkinson was part of a graduating class of 40 new troopers.
Atkinson was the only one from Walla Walla, according to reporting at the time.
On Nov.14, 2021, he became engaged to Meagan Graves, and the two plan to get married next summer, according to a GoFundMe page started for Atkinson Friday, Sept. 23 by Walla Walla County Commissioner Jenny Mayberry.
“Trooper Atkinson is a five-year veteran of the Washington State Patrol and we are relieved and happy to announce that he is in stable condition but has a long road to recovery,” Mayberry wrote.
With an honor line of fire department and law enforcement personnel, Washington State Trooper Dean Atkinson Jr. is loaded into a Walla Walla Fire Department ambulance outside the Emergency Department at Providence St. Mary Medical Center, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.
That fundraiser has already raised nearly $15,000 of its $50,000 goal, with many donations coming from supporters throughout the state, but many coming from local residents and businesses.