In The Line Of Duty

"In the Line of duty" I hear them say
I never dreamed it would be me
My family now the price will pay
and with heavy heart and bended knee
my folded flag stained with their tears
I ask for all here from the past
we only had those few short years
Dear God, let my name be the last.
...George Hahn

This has been another heartbreaking and devastating tragedy. This beautiful 22 year old sheriff deputy had responded to a 3 car crash at 7pm, Friday January 11, in Davis, California. A male bystander on a bicycle shot her and when she fell to the ground, stood over her and emptied his round of bullets. He then reloaded and started randomly shooting at the fire truck and firemen called to the scene. Luckily, no one else was killed. The gunman then went home, a block away and watched what unfolded on the TV news. He dropped his backpack at the scene so the gunman was quickly identified and surrounded. By 1am, shots were heard inside the home and the gunman was found dead. There are no longer "routine" calls. An officer's life is on the line and in danger at all times when wearing a badge.

Natalie Corona was described as a rising star by her Davis Police department. She graduated from the Sacramento Police Academy last July and completed her patrol training in December, just before Christmas. She proudly fulfilled her dream and followed in her father's footsteps, who was a retired sheriff sergeant, and she had only been on patrol by herself for a few short weeks. Sadly, this is such a senseless loss to her family, friends, coworkers and the Davis community.

On her Facebook page, in October 2016, she posed in a royal blue gown holding a "Blue Lives Matter" flag. She said it was to show her gratitude for all those law enforcement men and women who have served, who are currently serving and for those who have died in the line of duty protecting our liberties in this great country.

California is mourning the loss of this young courageous officer who died too soon.

https://ktla.com/2019/01/11/police-officer-fatally-shot-while-responding-to-traffic-collision-in-davis-suspected-gunman-found-dead/

https://apple.news/AGfYzckOkQreXSnPmy9wT2A

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/us/female-police-officer-killed/index.html

[Wendy]

Such senseless violence.So sorry to hear of this loss to her family, friends, and co-workers.

[Debra Farrington]

That is just horrific. There is so much killing these days...all so senseless and so painful.

[Tracy]

I heard about this and agree, it is senseless. I wish people would wake up and realize, all lives matter. My heart goes out to her family.

[Taffy]

I read about it even halfway around the world. So very tragic and you've honored her in such a powerful message and image.

[Wylie]

Horrendous. So glad Australia does't allow free access to weapons.

[Joy's Focus]

So unnecessary and tragic. Happened in my state of California. The guy who shot her was mentally ill and committed suicide. Why did he have a gun? Why Why Why? Too many whys and no answers. And she is no longer here. So sad and tragic.

[Diana]

Absolutely horrific, too many imbeciles running around with guns! A lovely collage to honour her.

[Ron]

So senseless. I heard about this on the news today. What a sad loss.

[Pam Knowler]

So sad to hear about this! My godson was working at the university in Davis until last year. So very frightening!

[Jacqueline]

As others allready said, too many running around with guns. This is so sad and scary.

[Denise Wood]

Such a sad story to go with the beautiful photo.

[Domenico Dodaro]

It is senseless. Why a life - of a young lady or of an old almost retired man - should be taken away while on duty on a car collision. There's a lot of matter for thought, not only for mourning.

[Lou Ann]

Beyond devastating. I have a dear friend who lives in California who talked about the Thin Blue Line of Policemen who protect us from the bad people in this world and how it resembles the Thin Blue Line of the earth’s atmosphere that protects the world - here’s her blog post — “Our law enforcement community has once again experienced a tragic loss. In honor of Officer Natalie Corona and everyone at the City of Davis Police Department, I wanted to re-share a word about the Thin Blue Line. Most of us hear that term and immediately think of law enforcement. They are the Thin Blue Line that stands between all of us and anarchy. The courageous actions of those standing, and in fact holding, the Thin Blue Line keep our society together. It is a line of protection and so much more. Scientists (some even right down the road at UC Davis) use the term, Thin Blue Line, to refer to earth’s atmosphere. The atmosphere of earth is a layer of gases commonly known as air that surrounds our planet. It is only about 300 miles wide and while the law enforcement and atmospheric lines are physically thin, they are powerful and determined in their purpose. The atmospheric Thin Blue Line allows for liquid water to exist on the earth's surface. Without it, we would die. Both types of Thin Blue Lines serve as protectors, but they also ensure life. They stand between sunlight and vast, eternal darkness; between life and death. From a Thin Blue Line, one can clearly see the opposing sides: the breath of life and the suffocation of death, human compassion and demonic ruin, love and hate, altruism and selfish ambition. To stand on the Thin Blue Line means to protect and serve this tiny, but incredibly unique, one-of-a-kind planet filled with light, love, and life. The lines protect us from darkness, evil, and sometimes even from ourselves. Thin Blue Lines, both atmospheric and law enforcement, are made up of Superhero stuff for sure ~ we are eternally grateful for both. 💙Thank you Officer Corona for holding that Line for us on earth. We know you will hold it forever in heaven as well. 💙”

[Lou Ann]

My friend is author/speaker Michele Penn Zumwalt, a Police Chaplain in Folsom, California.

[Merrelyn]

Such a senseless waste of beautiful young life. I'm so glad that we have strict gun control regulations in Australia.

[Henri Russell]

A beautiful tribute to this hero.

[Sandy Z W]

So senseless and so sad.

[CC Folk]

@louannwarren Thank you so much, LouAnn. My son lives in Folsom, graduated from UC Davis and has been a Sacramento Deputy Sheriff for 12 years. So this story hits too close to home for me. My son is 35 with a wife and 3 young boys. He saw his training officer gunned down and killed, he held guard during the autospy of a POP officer (my son is a POP officer at the moment) who was killed in the line of duty by an illegal (the officer just walked up to his truck). It scares me but I am proud of him. He is doing what he was called to do and is also following in my father's footsteps who was a Los Angeles Police Officer for 23 years before he retired. I was so upset when another young officer was ambushed and killed last summer while on a routine call. These things should not be happening and guns are falling into not only the criminals, illegals but also the mentally unstable. It breaks my heart. Thank you for your kind words and support! https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article3348287.html

[Danette Thompson]

It's been a rough start this year.