DALLAS (1080 KRLD)- Thursday marks the anniversary of the shooting in Downtown Dallas July 7, 2016 that killed five police officers. Four Dallas Police officers and one Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer were killed while they escorted a group of protesters through downtown.
The officers were escorting a protest through downtown that had been organized in response to police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota.
A gunman killed Dallas Police Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens, Officer Michael Krol, Sergeant Michael Smith, Officer Patrick Zamarripa and Dallas Area Rapid Transit Officer Brent Thompson.
The gunman was later killed after a standoff with police.
Current Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia was chief of police in San Jose, California at the time.
"I remember speaking to my officers at the time with regards to the danger and what occurred. It was a solemn night," he says.
Garcia says officers and the families of those killed still live with the pain, but they honor the fallen by continuing their work.
"When this day comes, the officers do have a difficult time, but they do remember the honor. They remember the bravery," he says.
After the shooting, many people left flowers and cards outside Dallas Police headquarters and stations where the officers worked.
Garcia says, as he has met with neighborhood groups since becoming Dallas Police chief last year, every organization has asked for more police presence, not less. He says those meetings have helped "humanize" officers people see every day.
"We're moms, dads, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, we're human beings," he says. "We chose a profession, a calling, to do something others aren't capable of doing. That's to risk our lives so others can live their lives."
The shooting was the deadliest day for law enforcement in the United States since the September 11 attacks. Garcia says while officers still remember the night of July 7, they also understand the ongoing danger of their work.
"Our men and women deal with it in their own way, but we all know that in the back of our minds," he says. "That is not a cliche, that is reality, certainly reality that happened on July 7 and reality that's happened far too many times across the country."
Thursday night, skyscrapers in Downtown Dallas will light up in blue to honor the officers who were killed.
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