• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Fallen Officers Remembered at Memorial Service: Over the Years, Thirty-Nine of Tulsa's Police Officers Have Been Killed in the Line of Duty.

Posted on: Sunday, 7 May 2006, 12:05 CDT

By Tom Droege, Tulsa World, Okla.

May 7--Still carrying 195 shotgun pellets in his leg, Tulsa Police Officer Steve Downie on Saturday placed a flower on a memorial for a fellow officer killed 10 years ago in an alley gun battle.

"It was my call," said Downie, after the memorial service. "I can remember it vividly. I walked down the alley with (Officer Dick Hobson)."

Hobson was the 39th and most recent Tulsa police officer to die in the line of duty. He and the other slain officers were honored at the 10th Annual Tulsa Police Officers' Memorial Service.

On June 10, 1996, Hobson and Downie, both K-9 officers, were looking at night for one of three armed bandits who had robbed a Whataburger restaurant at 1490 S. Peoria Ave.

The search led them down a shadowy alley near Second Street and Greenwood Avenue.

A tangle of plants obscured the view, until suddenly the night erupted in flashes of light from the blast of a shotgun, Downie said.

"My leg got blown out from under me," Downie said.

Hobson was about 37 feet from the gunman when he was struck by pellets in his chest and side, according to reports.

The two wounded officers, and three other officers -- Walt Milner, Jack Pike and Jim Leach -- returned fire while a police dog attacked the suspect.

The 21-year-old gunman was killed in the flurry of gunfire.

Hobson, an 18-year veteran of the Tulsa Police Department, died at a Tulsa hospital about seven hours after the June 10, 1996, shooting.

"I think about that about two or three times every day," said Downie.

Saturday's memorial service highlighted the 10th anniversary of Hobson's death, but also drew attention to the many other police deaths over the decades.

Officer Glen Allison died in 1918 after a man he was taking to jail struck him over the head with a tire iron and then shot him with his own gun. He was the second officer to die in Tulsa history.

The first to die was Officer John Herrod, who was accident ly shot while working for the Tulsa Police Department.

Family members, friends and officers placed a white flower for each fallen officer on a giant replica of the Tulsa Police Department shield during the ceremony inside the department's training center at 6066 E. 66th St. North.

Angela Byerley came to honor her father, Sgt. Don Byerley, who was killed during a drunken driving stop in 1980. Byerley had pulled over a vehicle when the squad car he was riding in was struck from behind by another drunken driver.

"We come every year. We don't ever miss it," said Angela Byerley, who was 12 when her father died. "It's very hard to come to these because the emotions come back."

She keeps returning because she is proud of her father and other officers for protecting the lives of other people. "They gave their life," she said.

Police Chaplain Tom Branch said there is value in remembering fallen officers.

"Remembering hurts, but it's a good hurt," Branch said. "Not remembering leaves a void."

Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor, state Rep. Lucky Lamons and former Tulsa County District Attorney S.M. "Buddy" Fallis Jr. spoke.

"Thirty-nine times have family and friends grieved," said Fallis. "We have to admit that there will likely be a 40th and a 41st because of the nature of the work. It's a deep regard for public service that many people don't have these days."

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, Tulsa World, Okla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Tulsa World

More News in this Category