Officer Patrick Zamarripa survived three tours in Iraq before being killed in Dallas

Source: Washington Post

Dallas police officer Patrick Zamarripa, 32, had survived three tours in Iraq, one of the world’s most dangerous places, his father, Rick Zamarripa, said Friday. And then this.

“He comes to the United States to protect people here,” his dad said. “And they take his life.”

Rick was watching television Thursday night when news broke that someone had opened fire in downtown Dallas around 9 p.m. at the end of a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in the city. He knew that his son had recently begun working as a bike officer in the downtown area, an assignment he enjoyed.

“Hey Patrick,” his father texted. “Are you okay?”

Rick had asked his son that question before, because he knew Zamarripa’s job was perilous. The response usually came quickly: “Yes, dad. I’ll call you back.”

Not this time.

“I didn’t hear nothing,” Rick said.

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Greg Wise, 48, knew him a decade ago when they worked together at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. Zamarripa was focused and professional, Wise said, even as he talked about leaving the military before serving 20 years.

Wise would often counsel young sailors who considered walking away before reaching retirement age. Many wanted to quit for the wrong reasons. But not Zamarripa.

“For him, he was just tired of being away from the people he loved,” Wise recalled. “He wanted to go back and serve his community.”

Zamarripa, he said, had long known he would do that as a police officer in Texas.

“I’ve been around the military for 30 years. I’ve seen a lot people come and go. A few stand out as being some of the good ones,” Wise said. “And he did.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/07/08/in-shock-officer-patrick-zamarripa-survived-tours-in-iraq-before-being-killed-in-dallas

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We don't really know what kind of police officer this young man was. Maybe he really was one of the good guys. Maybe he wasn't so great. But he didn't deserve to be shot down like that, and his child did not deserve to be left without a father.