Randal Simmons

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Randal (Randy) Simmons

Los Angeles Police Department

Randal Simmons
July 22, 1956(1956-07-22)–February 7, 2008 (aged 51)
Nickname Randy
Badge Number 22885
Service/branch United States
Years of service 27

Randal (Randy) David Simmons (July 22, 1956(1956-07-22) – February 7, 2008 (aged 51)) was a police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department. Simmons was the first member of the Los Angeles Police Department's SWAT Team to be killed in the line of fire, although another officer died in a training accident in 1998.[1]. Simmons was shot and killed by a barricaded suspect in the city of Winnetka, California, located in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County in a standoff that injured another officer, and claimed the lives of five, including the suspect. His badge number was 22885, and he had been with the department for twenty-seven years.[2]

Simmons attended Fairfax Senior High School in Los Angeles and Washington State University, where he played football. He committed much of his time to helping, praying for and comforting people[opinion needs balancing] in urban communities like Watts, Hacienda Village, Compton, and Carson. He was an ordained minister at Glory Christian Fellowship International (GCFI) in Carson, California. He was intstrumental with developing programs and Christian events that attracted many youth in these communities.[citation needed]

His funeral was attended by police officers from around the world.[3] His funeral was attended by nearly 10,000 mourners, the largest police officer funeral in Los Angeles and United States history.[4]

His body was interred at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.[citation needed]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Richard Winton, Molly Hennessy-Fiske, and Andrew Blankstein. Sniper shot gunman as he tried to flee. Los Angeles Times, 7 February 2008.
  2. ^ Police Officer Randal (Randy) Simmons. The Officer Down Memorial Page. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  3. ^ CBS Evening News, 2008-02-16
  4. ^ Rubin, Joel; Paloma Esquivel (February 16, 2008). Thousands pay tribute to officer who touched—and saved—lives. Los Angeles Times. “Los Angeles Police Officer Randal Simmons was remembered in a tearful, three-hour ceremony attended by nearly 10,000 people, most of them police and other law enforcement officers. The funeral was the largest in the history of the Los Angeles Police Department. The officer's death hits a nerve. Residents line streets, and TV stations carry his funeral.”

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