Dallas Five Honored at Memorial 5k
Sunday, July 7 marked the third anniversary of the deaths of five police officers at a peaceful protest in downtown Dallas.
The memories of officers Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael Smith, and Patrick Zamarripa, as well as Dallas Area Rapid Transit Officer Brent Thompson, were honored as part of a Fun for the Blue 5k charity race Saturday. Dallas' chapter of the Brotherhood for the Fallen later hosted a memorial BBQ for the Dallas Five.
KTVT-TV reports that a statue designed by Dallas sculptor Barvo Walker to honor the officers is scheduled to be unveiled Monday.
The deadly 2016 shooting occurred at a march in protest of the deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota - both fatally wounded in interactions with police. The gunman, Micah Xavier Johnson, hoped to kill police officers as an extreme form of protest. After an hours-long standoff with officers, he was killed by a police robot carrying explosives.
Nine officers and two civilians were wounded during the attack.
The officers fatally shot were:
- Cpl. Lorne Ahrens, 48, who'd been with the department since 2002
- Officer Michael Krol, 40, who'd been with the department since 2007
- Sgt. Michael Smith, 55, who'd been with the department since 1989 and was a former Army Ranger
- Officer Patricio "Patrick" Zamarripa, 32, who'd been with the department since 2011 and was a former Navy sailor and Iraq War veteran
- DART Officer Brent Thompson, 43, who'd been with the department since 2009 and was an enlisted Marine. Thompson was the first DART officer killed in the line of duty since the department's inception in 1989
The shooting is considered the deadliest attack on United States law enforcement officers since the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks.