Two female rookie police officers have been shot and killed in the past two days, police confirmed.
Police in Shreveport, Louisiana, confirmed Thursday a 22-year-old officer, identified as Chateri Payne, was shot and killed outside a home as she was leaving for the night shift, KALB reported.
Payne graduated from the academy Nov. 16.
There was a child inside the home at the time of the shooting, Shreveport Police Chief Ben Raymond said during a news conference, but he’s unsure whether the child saw anything. Raymond is also unsure of the motive.
A suspect was detained for questions but not arrested.
“Long days, aching nights, but I decided to stand tall on my dream,” Payne wrote in a Facebook post after graduation, according KALB. “It is an honor to be able to join such a powerful family with my brothers and sisters in blue. May the journey begin.”
UPDATE: Murdered Shreveport Police Officer identified as Chatéri Payne https://t.co/5GrNZwk3rx
— KTAL NBC 6 News (@NBC6News) January 10, 2019
Just a day later, rookie police officer Natalie Corona was shot and killed while on duty responding to a three-car crash in Northern California, The Associated Press reported. (RELATED: Investigation Into Drive-By Shooting Of 7-Year-Old Jazmine Barnes Has ‘Take A New Direction’)
Corona, 22, was alone investigating the accident around 7 p.m. local time when an unidentified gunman opened fire. The suspect was later found dead inside a nearby home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Davis Police Department.
#BREAKING: Picture of fallen #Davis police officer, Natalie Corona, taken during her August swearing-in ceremony by the @colusanewspaper. The 22 y/o was shot & killed Thursday while responding to a car crash. The suspect remains at large. pic.twitter.com/6maedjYIAJ
— Heather Holmes (@HeatherKTVU) January 11, 2019
Corona graduated from the Sacramento Police Department police academy in July and had followed the footsteps of her father, Merced Corona, who is a veteran of the Colusa County Sheriff’s Department.
“I can tell you that I have never seen anyone work harder in a part-time capacity and more motivated to be police officer than Natalie,” Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said.
Officer Ronil Singh, 33, was also shot and killed in California during a traffic stop in December after pulling a suspect over on the suspicion of driving under the influence.
At least 88 police officers in the United States were killed while on duty in 2018, Fox News reported, and at 47 of them were from gunfire.
This total is down from 127 in 2017 and 135 in 2016, which was the deadliest year for police officers in the U.S. in the past five years.
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