Page:Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted, 2002.djvu/51

 Summaries of Felonious Incidents

ALABAMA

A 35-year-old conservation enforcement officer with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was fatally wounded during a drug investigation about 7:15 p.m. on March 8 in Winfield. The 16-year veteran of law enforcement was working on a local drug task force that was attempting to execute a search warrant at the residence of a suspected drug dealer. Once at the home, officers knocked on the front door and announced their intent to execute the warrant. With no reply from inside, the officers tried to forcibly enter the residence. After numerous unsuccessful attempts, officers finally knocked down the door. When the conservation officer entered the residence, the suspect fired one shot from a .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun that struck the officer below the waist, just beneath his body armor. The victim officer yelled to the other officers that he had been shot, and the officers took cover outside the residence. The victim officer was able to pull himself back onto the porch where fellow officers were able to retrieve him and take him from the scene by police vehicle to a local hospital. The alleged shooter retreated to the back of the house. Law enforcement officers convinced the 42-year-old man to surrender a short time later. The man, who was a known drug user and dealer, had prior arrests on charges of First-Degree Rape and Lewd Molestation. He was arrested and charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Distribution of a Controlled Substance and Attempted Murder. On March 25, the conservation enforcement officer died of his injuries and the Attempted Murder charge against the offender was changed to Capital Murder.

A veteran police officer, aged 31, with the Birmingham Police Department was slain in a robbery attempt of a fast-food restaurant at 8:40 p.m. on November 18. The officer, who was off duty and in plain clothes at the time, had entered the establishment, placed an order, and sat at a table. Just after an acquaintance of the officer entered the business and sat at the officer's table, a man entered the restaurant brandishing a .25-caliber automatic handgun. He ordered patrons and employees to the floor. The officer's friend was apparently too slow to follow the robber's orders, and the robber shot the individual. Calling himself to duty, the officer, with nearly 10 years of law enforcement experience, drew his 9 mm semi-automatic handgun and engaged the robber in a gunfight in which several shots were exchanged. The suspect tried to leave the business through a back door, but it was locked. The individual then retraced his steps and ran out the front door of the business with the officer in pursuit. After a short footchase, the officer collapsed at the corner of the restaurant. The victim officer, who had been shot five times in the right shoulder, the right hand, the right thigh, and fatally in the chest, was pronounced dead at the scene. The assailant remains at large at time of publication.

 ARIZONA 

On August 9, at 1:30 p.m., a 28-year-old park ranger with the National Park Service was killed in an ambush in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Pima County, Arizona, while assisting in the pursuit of Mexican nationals who had stolen a vehicle in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. The ranger, who had nearly 5 years of law enforcement experience, was one of several Mexican and American officers attempting to apprehend the suspects. After car-jacking the vehicle from an American who was vacationing in Puerto Penasco, the suspects drove to the border town of Sonoyta, Mexico, where municipal police confronted them. After an exchange of gunfire, two of the suspects fled in the stolen vehicle to an area near the port of entry at Lukeville, Arizona, followed by Mexican authorities. The suspects turned east along the Mexican border road for approximately 3 miles then drove north into the United States through an opening in the barbed wire fence that marks the international boundary. One Mexican police vehicle followed the suspects a short distance across the border. After another exchange of gunfire, the Mexican police returned to Mexico as the suspects continued north into the national park. At approximately 1 p.m., Mexican authorities notified the American port director that two armed men in a stolen silver sports utility vehicle had crossed into the United States. The port director notified both the U.S. Border Patrol and the National Park Service. A Border Patrol helicopter working in the area located the suspects and directed responding units to the site. The suspects tried to evade the pursuing Border Patrol units, but their vehicle eventually became stuck in a ravine. The two Mexican citizens fled from the vehicle in separate directions. One man ran northwest and was eventually captured with assistance from the Border Patrol helicopter. The second man ran south-west into a heavily vegetated area. The helicopter pilot eventually found this suspect hiding under a tree and directed officers on the ground to that location. The park ranger approached with his weapon drawn within approximately 50 feet of the tree. However, without warning, the suspect fired three shots from a 7.62x39 mm semiautomatic rifle. One round struck the victim officer's radio on his left hip, and the bullet entered his abdomen under his body armor. The suspect then ran southeast across open desert to within 50 yards of the border where at least 30 Mexican officers from numerous agencies opened fire on him. The 28-year-old assailant and the victim ranger both died from their wounds.

A 59-year-old sergeant with the Pinal County Sheriff's Department died on August 24 as a result of line-of-duty injuries sustained in Apache Junction on December 11, 1993. Just after 4 p.m. on the day of the incident, the officer, then a corporal with more than 6 years' law enforcement experience, and other officers responded to a domestic/disturbance call at a residence. As the officers entered the structure, a man inside exchanged gunfire with them. During the exchange, the man reportedly shot the corporal, who was wearing body armor, Rh