Out Of The Darkness And Into The Blue

"When a police officer is killed, it's not an agency that loses an officer it's an entire nation." - Chris Cosgriff, ODMP founder. On April 18, 2011 Officer Eric Zapata, the first City of Kalamazoo officer was murdered in the line of duty. The city and department lost an officer by a suspects bullet. But for me, I lost a friend and a partner on the job. It was the worst of days! Eric will never be forgotten. Two other of my friends were killed in the line of duty. And even worse, they were two of my own students that I had trained at the Kalamazoo Valley Police Academy. Officer Owen Fisher, of the Flint, Michigan Police Dept. and Officer Scot Beyerstedt, of the Mattawan, Michigan Police Dept. As a member of the Kalamazoo Police Honor Guard we attended countless funerals of Officers killed in the line of duty. It was a brutal reminder of how deadly our chosen profession is. Was I next? How will I be killed? These questions always came into my mind while my tears ran down my face behind the mirrored sun