Chandler officer killed, Gilbert officer hospitalized, suspect in stolen car identified

As a memorial vigil was held Saturday evening for Chandler Police Officer Christopher Farrar gunned down by Jonathan Atland, the Arizona Republic oddly placed quotation marks around two words the officer’s church bulletin notice stating the community prayed for the family of Farrar and honored “his sacrifice.”

Gilbert officer Rico Aranda remains hospitalized in critical condition due to acts of wanton criminality committed by the twenty-five-year-old Atland, who also attempted to run over three Pinal County officers and four DPS officers who shot at Atland during his crime spree at a Gilbert auto dealership. Atland will be charged with murder, aggravated assault and auto theft.

A comprehensive and updated report including photos of the officers and the suspect is available on Fox10, Phoenix. The Gilbert Digital Newsroom released this report.

These police officers, like countless other men and women across our state and nation, put their lives on the line each and every day they don their uniforms and go to work. The National Police Foundation has posted “A Hippocratic Oath for policing,” written by Sgt. Jeremiah P. Johnson, (bio follows oath) which is well worth your time.

The political left has become obsessive in its thrust to demonize law enforcement, calling for defunding and dismantling of our police agencies, replacing them with chaos. As an example, the website, For a World Without Police uses loaded language, placing law enforcement agencies into the context of enemies rather than defenders of peace. The three categories, The Problem, The Strategy and The Study Guide, should not be ignored.

None of us have previously encountered anything of this proportion intent on destroying our societal system based on living lawfully and respectably among one another. Games have rules and penalties. So do our daily lives. There are lines in the roadways, traffic lights and speed limits to keep us safe. In a perfect world, there would be no criminality. Humans are imperfect. Evil dwells among us in the form of murderers, thieves, pedophiles, arsonists and other criminals. And we now see that there are those who are intent on assuring its expansion rather than curtailment.