Former Thurston County Deputy Andrea Moore was honored during the May 6 Washington State Law Enforcement Medal of Honor and Peace Officers Memorial Ceremony after she survived being stabbed while likely saving a woman from being sexually assaulted in 2021.
Moore was presented with the Law Enforcement Medal of Honor, the highest honor given to any law enforcement in the state, by Gov. Jay Inslee.
Moore, now an officer with the Lacey Police Department, was working an overtime detail March 26 when she responded to a report of a suspicious person in the Nisqually Pines community just outside of Yelm.
Upon arrival at the residence, she saw a man and a woman through the window, Ray Brady, undersheriff with Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO), said last year.
After Moore knocked on the door, she reportedly saw an elderly woman answer with a man standing directly behind her. Brady said since Moore could see concern on the woman’s face, she asked her to step out. Yet as the woman did as she was asked, the man raised a knife, threatening to stab her in the back, Brady said.
The attacker was identified as convicted felon and sex offender Ronald Clayton.
“Unbeknownst to Deputy Moore, the male was there to rape the elderly female and had just recently cut off his GPS ankle monitor, where he was being monitored in the Spanaway area,” the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office wrote last week. “The male that was inside the elderly woman’s house produced a large knife and attacked Deputy Moore, stabbing her in the neck. Deputy Moore was able to draw her service weapon and fire rounds at the suspect, striking him and stopping the attack. She was able to get out on the radio that shots had been fired and that she had been stabbed. Members from TCSO and Yelm PD arrived shortly after and were able to perform lifesaving medical treatment until paramedics arrived to transport Deputy Moore to the hospital. Deputy Moore was in and out of consciousness and at one time did not have a pulse. She underwent surgery at Providence St. Peter’s Hospital and has since made a full recovery.”
Members of TCSO and members of the honor guard attended the May 7 ceremony.
“Congratulations Officer Moore,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “The citizens of unincorporated Thurston County were lucky to have you serve for them.”
