Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen
The Graveyard Shift extends our condolences to the families of the officers who sacrificed everything to keep us safe.
Patrolman Martoiya Lang, 32
Memphis Tennessee Police Department
December 14, 2012 – Patrolman Martoiya Lang was shot and killed while she and another officer served a search warrant for narcotics. She is survived by her four children.
Deputy Sheriff Christopher R. Parsons, 31
Washington County Missouri Sheriff’s Office
December 15, 2012 – Deputy Christopher Parsons responded to a 911 call about an unconscious woman. As EMS personnel loaded the patient into the ambulance, her son exited the home with a rifle and fired a single round, killing the deputy. Deputy Parsons had served only two months with the sheriff’s office before his death.
Patrolman Angel Garcia, 27
El Paso Texas Police Department
December 16, 2012 – Patrolman Angel Garcia was struck and killed by a vehicle as he was removing a ladder from the roadway.
Corporal David Gogian, 50
Officer Jeff Atherly, 29
Topeka Kansas Police Department
December 16, 2012 – Corporal Gogian and Officer Atherly were shot and killed while checking on a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of a local grocery store. While speaking with the occupants of the car, one of them began firing a weapon, fatally wounding both officers.
Officer Sean Louis Callahan, 24
Clayton County Georgia Police Department
December 18, 2012 – Officer Sean Louis Callahan was in foot pursuit of a man who turned and fired a weapon, striking the officer in the head, twice. Officer Callahan was transported to the hospital where he succumbed to the gunshot wounds the following day.
*45 police officers have been shot to death in 2012.
Thank you, Lee, for honoring these officers who gave their lives.
Here are my thoughts on the subject of guns.
At least, SOMEBODY in schools should be armed. If, as reported, unverified by me, the school resource officer was outside the building, he (or she) wasn’t much use. And many localities either cannot or do not have the will to provide resource officers in schools. Confiscating guns of normal, law-abiding citizens will not solve the problem, only create more unresisting targets. Those who wish to do harm with guns, as the Colorado theatre shooter, WILL NOT turn their guns in.
Crime statistics for Kennesaw, GA show that violent crime percentages are lower when citizens are armed.
http://city-crime-statistics.findthedata.org/d/d/Georgia
Sally I wondered the same thing. Thanks, Lee, for keeping us informed around the country as I only get these on my local news. When you post, I always say a prayer for these officers and their families.
Not to get on a soapbox, but when the gun-rights people say that arming teachers and the public will prevent crime, do they realize that police officers are killed despite the fact that they are carrying weapons and well trained in self defense?
Thanks, Lee, both for your service and for reminding us that having a gun on your hip doesn’t automatically protect you from harm.
My hope is we can serve our law enforcement officers as well as they’ve served us, and implement commonsense gun safety laws to minimize criminals’ access to deadly weapons.