Deputy gunned down responding to call becomes 5th officer fatally shot in last 8 days

Joe Money

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Deputy gunned down responding to call becomes 5th officer fatally shot in last 8 days

An Illinois sheriff's department is mourning the loss of a deputy who was shot to death Tuesday afternoon -- the fifth law enforcement officer killed in just eight days across the country.

Fulton County Sheriff's deputy Troy Chisum, 39, was responding to a battery and disturbance call at a rural home in Avon, which is about an hour west of Peoria, when he was shot by a suspect inside the home, authorities said.

The 42-year-old suspect barricaded himself in a home for hours after the shooting.

On Wednesday afternoon, authorities identified the suspect as Nathan Woodring. He was taken into custody Wednesday morning and will be taken to jail to be held pending formal charges, authorities said.

Chisum had worked for the Fulton County Sheriff's Office for 4 1/2 years and was also a paramedic with Fulton County EMA.

Fulton County Sheriff Jeff Standard, overcome with emotion, said at a news conference on Wednesday, "I stand before you today saddened and at a loss of adequate words to express the grief we are feeling over the loss of one of our own."

"Deputy Chisum dedicated his life to the service of his community," Standard said in a statement. "His legacy and sacrifice will forever be remembered."

Hundreds of officers saluted as Chisum's body was driven to OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria Tuesday.

Chisum is the fifth officer shot and killed in just over a week across the United States.

Officer John David Hetland, of the Racine, Wisconsin, Police Department, was shot and killedon June 17 while he was off-duty, but sprang into action when he was a man robbing a bar. The 24-year veteran was shot and killed, while the suspect managed to escape.

Tara O'Sullivan, a Sacramento Police Department officer, was gunned down while responding to a domestic violence situation on June 19. The 26-year-old had been a part of the force for just six months.

Cpl. Jose Espericueta of the Mission, Texas, Police Department was shot and killed on Thursday, authorities said. The 13-year veteran, nicknamed "Speedy," was married with two children. He was killed after a woman waved him down and said her son was shooting at her car. He then opened fire on Espericueta as he fled the scene, according to police.

Michael Langsdorf from the North County Police Cooperative was killed "execution"-style in Wellston, Missouri, on Sunday. The 40-year-old was shot in the back of the neck while lying face down on the ground after struggling with a man who had allegedly tried to cash a bad check at a grocery store.

Chisum is the 26th police officer fatally shot in 2019, and the fifth killed in June. Five officers were also fatally shot in January, February and May.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/illinois-...hot-days/story?id=63953041&cid=social_fb_abcn
 
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I I'm back in the gym. Transfer my planet fitness to a spot closer to home and I've been two days in a row.

I got to get this weight back off. Yesterday I lost 3.4 pounds. Today I ate Italian, so who knows, but I did get 15,000 steps in
 
Rest in peace Tamir Rice (25 June 2002 - 23 November 2014)

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HomeNation
Tamir Rice’s Mom Celebrates His Birthday As She Continues Fight Against His Killer
Tamir Rice would have been 17 years old.
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Written By Megan Sims
Posted June 25, 2019


Nearly five years have gone by since 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by a police officer in Cleveland. But his mother was celebrating his life on Tuesday, which would have been his 17th birthday, by continuing her fight against Timothy Loehmann, the cop who killed her son.

“Listen to your mama talking, baby,” Samaria wrote in a letter to her son that was published in ESSENCE on Tuesday. “My own consciousness has grown since you were stolen so brutally from me. No mother, no father, no sister or brother should ever go through what we went through—and are still going through.”


On November 22, 2014 Rice was killed while playing in a park with an Airsoft pellet gun. A resident called 9-1-1 believing the gun may have been real. Loehmann and his partner Officer Frank Garmback responded to the call. Video of the incident caused widespread outrage not just because of Rice’s age, but also because he was shot within seconds of police arriving on the scene. The police cruiser was still moving when Loehmann shot Rice on the spot.

Following the shooting, Loehmann escaped criminal charges and returned to work until he was fired in 2017 when it came to light that he had resigned from a previous department after six months when several supervisors determined he was unfit to be a police officer. Loehmann was even rehired at another Ohio department, who then rescinded the offer after facing massive backlash.

“This is what I’ve learned since you’ve been physically gone: We all have to keep fighting against injustice. More Black people need to become involved in local politics and gain a deeper understanding of how city governments work,” Samaria wrote to Rice.

Since her son’s death and Loehmann subsequently getting off scott free, Samaria has been working hard to keep Rice’s killer off the streets. When he was rehired by the Bellaire, Ohio Police Department, Samaria launched a letter writing campaign, which may have contributed in part to him being terminated.

In March, Loehmann, with the endorsement of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association (CPPA), filed an appeal against the city of Cleveland to overturn his termination. On June 3, Samaria delivered 170,000 petitions to the CPPA against Loehmann’s potential rehiring.


In addition to working to make sure Loehman never wears a badge again, Samaria has been keeping the memory of her son alive. In May 2018, she announced she and the Tamir Rice Foundation would be renovating a two-story building to create a youth center where kids can have access to mentors and learn how to engage in political systems. And more painfully, she wanted to destroy the gazebo where Rice took his last breaths but decided against it. It was dismantled in 2016 and on Saturday, the gazebo was moved to Chicago as a temporary memorial for Rice. Samaria attended the dedication on Sunday, which was held by the nonprofit Rebuild Foundation, and thanked organizers and guests on social media.

Though Rice will go down as a solemn memory and tragedy in the eyes of many, he was first and foremost a son, a grandson and a brother. Despite how busy Samaria has been since his death, she said she has never forgotten the Tamir many of us didn’t get a chance to know.

“Your brother, sisters, and I will forever love and miss you, but we will never stop honoring your life and building your legacy,” she wrote. “And I know you’ll be looking down on us, baby. I know you will. Ask me how I know? I feel you when I breathe.”


“Happy Birthday, Tamir. I look forward to remembering and honoring and cherishing this day for years to come.”

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