As reported by the San Jose Mercury News:
Fresno Deputy Sgt. Rod Lucas grew up in Tranquility and was an ardent supporter of the high school football team. He was accidentally shot in the chest by a colleague while discussing weapons safety Tuesday. He was No. 9.
Jack Hopkins told a good joke, loved karate and had a dog named Bandit. The Modoc County deputy sheriff was responding to a domestic disturbance call on Oct. 19 when a registered sex offender shot and killed him. He was No. 8.
Palm Springs police Officer Lesley Zerebny had recently returned to work after maternity leave, and fellow Officer Jose Gilbert Vega was a father of eight looking forward to retirement. They were checking on a domestic disturbance call on Oct. 8 when a man with gang ties opened fire through a closed front door. They were Nos. 6 and 7.
Steve Owen was a volunteer football coach who became a mentor to some of the very guys he arrested. The Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant was shot and killed, execution-style, while responding to a burglary in progress in Lancaster on Oct. 5. He was No. 5.
Nine police officers have died in the line of duty this year in California, five of them since October. The total is not unusual – California loses 10 officers per year on average, according to the attorney general – but the flurry of killings in just a few weeks is unnerving to many on all sides of the thin blue line. …
