Biggest loss to law enforcement since Twin Towers attacks
DALLAS // One was a newly-wed. One had survived several tours with the army in Iraq, only to die in his native America. These are the five police officers shot dead in Dallas by gunman Micah Johnson. Their killings represent the biggest single loss of law enforcement officers’ lives since the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001
Brent Thompson, 43
joined the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (Dart) authority in 2009 and is the first officer to be killed in the line of duty since the agency was formed in 1989. The Dart police are separate from the Dallas police, and work primarily on the city’s buses and railways. Before joining the Dart force, Thompson worked from 2004 to 2008 as a police liaison officer for DynCorp International, a private military contractor, training the police force in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He married his second wife less than two weeks ago and lived in Corsicana, an hour’s drive south of Dallas. He had six grown-up children from a previous marriage and had recently celebrated the birth of his third grandchild. He enjoyed rock singalong parties with his family. Family friend Tara Thornton said: “He loved being a police officer. He instantly knew that’s what he wanted to do, to save lives and protect people.”
Patrick Zamarripa, 32
joined the US navy straight from high school in Fort Worth and completed three tours in Iraq before returning home to Texas to join the Dallas force five years ago. In Iraq, he helped guard one of the offshore oil platforms He was married to Kristy and leaves a two-year-old daughter, Lincoln and a 10-year-old stepson. With the Dallas force, he was recently assigned to cycle patrols in the city centre. His father, Rick Zamarripa said he had tried to persuade his son to leave the force but he wouldn’t hear of it. “He said he liked the action,” said Mr Zamarripa. Whenever he head of police officers in danger, he would text Patrick and his son would invariably quickly send back a reassuring text message. This time no reply came. “He went over there to Iraq and didn’t get hurt at all and he comes back home and gets killed,” said Mr Zamarripa.
Michael Krol, 40
was so determined to become a police officer that he moved from his native Detroit to Dallas in 2007 because the Detroit force was not taking on staff. He worked in security at a local hospital and graduated from Dallas Police Academy in 2008. The basketball fan was single but had a girlfriend in Dallas and had sent her a text during the protest march saying it was proceeding peacefully. His mother, Susan Ehlke said: “ He knew the danger of the job but he never shied away from his duty.”
Michael Smith, 55
joined the Dallas police in 1989 and was once selected by the Dallas Police Association for the “Cops’ Cop” award. Before becoming a police officer he had been a US army ranger and recently brushed off suggestions of retirement. When intervening in a fight between a gang member and his partner, Smith was stabbed in the head and needed 31 stitches. He was married to schoolteacher Heidi and had two daughters, Victoria and Caroline. He was regular at his church and local Young Men’s Christian Association.
Lorne Ahrens, 48
was a Dallas police officer for 14 years. A former semi-professional football player, at 6ft 5 and 16 kilograms, he was an imposing figure. He worked his way up from a junior post at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department to reach the rank of senior corporal on the Dallas force. His football experience served him well in 2003 when he sprinted after and caught a suspected cocaine dealer who was escaping. He was married to Katrina, a Dallas detective and had a 10-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son. Ahrens died in hospital following complications arising from surgery.
* Associated Press
