A vigil will be held Saturday for a Las Vegas police officer shot and killed in the line of duty.
Truong Thai, 49, responded along with another officer to a domestic violence call Thursday morning, the Las Vegas Sun reports.
The two spotted an armed man in a car who opened fire. The two fired back, but Thai suffered a fatal gunshot wound.
“Our condolences go out to his family, and we will be helping them in any way we can in the following days,”Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. “The incident demonstrates the dangers our officers face every day just putting on the uniform and doing their job.”
KLAS reports Thai has been with the Metropolitan Police Department since 1999. Officers escorted his body from the hospital.
Police took 24-year-old Tyson Hampton into custody after he attempted to escape.
A civilian was also struck during an exchange of gun fire.
Hampton faces 9 counts including one count of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon, four counts of attempted murder, domestic battery, battery with the use of a deadly weapon and firing a gun into a vehicle.
“Throughout his tenure, he was an experienced patrol officer who mentored countless younger officers,” the Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement about Thai. He spent his free time coaching girl’s volleyball.
“Thai is the guy everyone wanted to work with,” Steve Grammas, head of the Las Vegas police union who worked with Thai decade ago, said to ABC News. “He loved police work. He could have finished his career in a specialized unit. But he felt his place was on the street.”
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