Remembering Sgt. Steve Owen every Oct. 5

Those living near Avenue J8 in Lancaster woke up Monday morning to discover part of the road blocked by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies.

It wasn’t a crime scene, but could have been mistaken for one, as yellow tape adorned signs announcing that the road was closed. Instead, the road was closed to traffic as deputies stood vigil for 24 hours, to remember Sgt. Steve Owen, who was killed on Oct. 5, 2016, while responding to a burglary call at the apartments near that location.

Last year, the road remained open to traffic, but that didn’t happen this year and motorists were directed to find an alternate route.

Owen was a 29-year veteran of the department and was shot when he encountered a suspect as he was responding to the burglary call.

We’ve heard too much about police-involved shootings this year, in which civilians are killed, but in 2016, it was a deputy that was shot to death.

Since then, his colleagues, family and friends have mourned his passing and continue to remember the day with a 24-hour vigil.

A park in Lancaster bears his name and serves as a reminder to visitors, of what happened that day, four years ago.

We’ve heard a lot of anti-law enforcement rhetoric this year and while any loss of life is a tragedy, we tend to wonder how many of those folks have stopped to think that law enforcement officers have families, too.

Do we hear the outcry from the public when a law enforcement officer is shot and killed? The answer to that is no, not usually. It’s just another death to some.

But for the children, spouses and other family members left behind, it’s much more than that.

It’s an event that will forever change their lives, as it did for Owen’s family.

His colleagues haven’t forgotten him and they want to make sure the community doesn’t either.