In Memory...

This particular post is dedicated to the memory of a fallen brother Officer Sean Clark of the Charlotte Police Department, his partner Jeff Shelton and all their brother officers and also to their families.

Last night Sean and Jeff were killed in the line of duty.

I don't have all the details as of yet. Off duty police were the first to relay the news to me at work that two officers had been shot during a domestic. As the night wore on I learned that one of them was Sean, one of my students a few years back who only quit training to focus on fulfilling his lifetime ambition of being a cop. Initial reports said only one had died and the other was touch and go. By the end of the night I found out, sadly, both had died.

Were they killed by stray rounds during a gun battle? Nope. They were ambushed. They didn't even have their weapons out when they were shot from behind at close range by some gutless skidmark.

To aggravate his death Sean's wife is six months pregnant and he has a 3 and a half year old son Braydon who will now have to grow up sans dad. Officer Shelton's wife will now have to live with his death.

Sean was one of the world's genuine nice guys. He didn't do things because you asked him, he did them anyway. I remember first meeting him when I'd hang out with some police officer students doing off duty work and he'd bring water over to us. No one asked for the water...that was just the way Sean was. When you did ask for something...boom, Sean was there, no questions asked. When I moved from the coast to Charlotte a few years back some of my mates at the coast couldn't find the time to help me load the truck. Sean did, only he drove the 300 miles from Charlotte to do so.

My thoughts go out to his family, his friends and his brother officers. I hope yours will as well.

RIP Brother