‘Shootings’ raise toll in line-of-duty deaths

135 officers lives lost

NEW YORK, Dec 30, (AP): Ambushes in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and other shootings around the country led to a sharp increase in the number of police killed in the line of duty this year. Ambushes in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and other shootings around the country led to a sharp increase in the number of police killed in the line of duty this year.

From Jan. 1 through Wednesday, 135 officers lost their lives. Some died in traffic accidents, but nearly half were shot to death. That’s a 56 percent increase in shooting deaths over the previous year.

Of the 64 who were fatally shot, 21 were killed in ambush attacks often fueled by anger over police use of force involving minorities.

“We’ve never seen a year in my memory when we’ve had an increase of this magnitude in officer shooting deaths,” said Craig Floyd, president and chief executive of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. “These officers were killed simply because of the uniform they wear and the job they do. This is unacceptable to the humane society that we are.”

In Dallas, a sniper on July 7 attacked at the end of what had been a peaceful rally against police brutality. He killed five law enforcement officers and wounded nine others — the largest death toll among law enforcement from a single event since the 9/11 attacks, which killed 72 officers. Months later, Dallas businesses and residents still display blue ribbons and banners declaring, “We support our Dallas police officers.”

“A lot of us are going through the motions at work. We’re hoping things will get better with our struggle,” he said. Frazier added that the attack was a “game changer. It changed the perception of law enforcement. It reversed the role after Ferguson. We were the pursuer and now, we’re being pursued.”

Floyd

CHESTERTOWN, Md:

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An exchange of gunfire in a home on Maryland’s Eastern Shore left one man dead and a sheriff’s deputy critically wounded, authorities said Thursday.

Queen Anne’s County sheriff’s deputies were called to a domestic disturbance at the Chestertown home of James Rich II, 52. Rich’s girlfriend, who had been staying at the home, sent her father a text message asking him to call authorities because she and Rich had been in a physical altercation, police said.

The father called 911, but when Deputy 1st Class Warren Hogan and another deputy arrived, both Rich and his girlfriend were gone.

The woman’s father had taken her to the sheriff’s office, police said.

WEATHERFORD, Texas:

A police officer and a suspect have been shot while scuffling outside a north Texas restaurant.

Weatherford Police say the shootings occurred during “an investigative traffic stop” of a vehicle with two males and a female in it about 9:15 p.m.

Police say officers were trying to arrest one of the males on a warrant when the scuffle broke out in the parking lot of the Tequila Bar Y Grill.

Officer Chris Bumpas and the suspect, who has not been identified, were both shot and taken to a local hospital.