I've been trying to think of a way to start this post. One: because I don't want to write just for sympathy because I did not personally know the fallen officer and two: how do I start a post about someone who has been killed?
I was at work when I heard my colleagues talking about the tragic incident and couldn't believe that someone has killed another cop. And he not only killed this cop but he shot another one several times. The officer who was killed was running after the suspect who should have still been in jail from previous violations and somehow slipped through the system. The suspect had no regard for life when he continued to shoot the cop after he was already down. The officer was shot a total of 14 times. No one should have to die this way. No one.
So there I was sitting at work thinking about how dangerous a city this is that I work in and that I want to get as far from it as possible when I get a phone call from my mother. I asked her if I could please call her back, but then I heard that dreaded tone in her voice and I immediately knew something was wrong. At first I thought something may have happened to my younger sister because she isn't living in the best of situations right now. However, in that dreaded tone my mother told me that the cop who has just been killed was my stepfather's nephew.
WOW, I didn't know what to say...what could I have really said except that I was terribly sorry. I knew how close with his nephews he was and both he and my mom watched the football games with his nephew's parents every Sunday. He was not just "any cop" to my stepfather; this horrible death happened to his sister's son and they had already lost their oldest son several years ago. Where has the respect for authority gone? These men and women are police officers and they are here to protect and serve, they are here for
US. It hasn't even been a month since the last time a cop was killed during a pursuit in this city.
I just pray for the men and women in blue and for their families. I pray for my stepfather and his sister and her husband and their daughter who has lost their son, brother, and nephew who was much more than that to his community. I also pray for all the men and women who serve this country and protect the people who live in it.
(correction made)