Shutterstock
Keith Wayne Boyer was shot and killed yesterday in Los Angeles. He had been with the force since 1989. Another officer, identified as Patrick Hazel, and the gunman were wounded and taken to the hospital.
Officers conducting a traffic stop about 8:30 A.M. in the area of Colima Road and Mar Vista Street in Whittier were confronted by a driver armed with a semiautomatic handgun, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
Via FOX:
Two Whittier police officers and a suspect were wounded Monday in an officer-involved shooting.
Paramedics dispatched at 8:17 a.m. to Colima Road and Mar Vista Street rushed three people to an area hospital, where their conditions were not immediately known, according to a county fire department dispatcher.
The victims were two Whittier Police Department officers and a suspect, said Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
https://twitter.com/FOXLA/status/833752890061643776
The shooter was a suspected gang member recently released from prison, according to authorities.
Whittier police chief Jeff Piper said that Boyer was a “personal friend of mine for 25 years.”
“He was the best of the best. He was humble, smiling, positive. He was a great guy and recently talked to me about retiring.”
The effect of the shooting will “last for years. But we’re gonna get through it. This makes us stronger. And everyone needs to know what these officers face on a daily basis,” Piper said as he became emotional. “We have been grieving since 10:00 A.M. this morning. I didn’t think I had any more tears left to cry but obviously, I do.”
Boyer was a divorced father of grown children. In his free time, he played the drums in bands, performing for non-profit events.
