A longtime California police officer was killed Monday when a recently paroled gang member involved in an auto accident opened fire, authorities said.
The fallen officer was identified as Keith W. Boyer, a 27-year veteran of the Whittier Police Department. Whittier is about 17 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
A second Whittier officer who responded to the accident was wounded, according to Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Piper [the police chief] said Boyer was the first officer the department has lost since the late 1970s. He was at least the fifth US law enforcement officer to be fatally shot in the line of duty this year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
