Law enforcement officers shocked, saddened by events in Dallas

Shock and sadness were the words used by Modesto-area law enforcement leaders to describe the shootings in Dallas that led to the deaths of five officers Thursday night.

Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, opened fire on law enforcement officers after a peaceful protest over the recent officer-involved shooting deaths of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota earlier this week.

In all, 12 officers and two civilians were shot Thursday. Johnson, who is believed to have been the lone attacker, was killed at a parking garage when police used a robot-delivered bomb after they say negotiations with him failed.

Modesto police Chief Galen Carroll sent a message to all of his officers Friday morning telling them to look out for each other but to remember that the majority of Modestans support them and not to let the tragedy in Dallas divide them from the community.

“Like many of you, I went to bed in shock and with some anger over the senseless murder of brother and sister officers in Dallas. ... I woke up this morning sad that our country has headed in this direction,” he wrote in the message. “It would be easy to allow this incident or incidents like this to divide us from our community. That is exactly what those who are behind these types of acts want to happen. ... We cannot let those few individuals come between MPD and our community.”

Interim Oakdale police Chief Mike Harden said he was watching a baseball game Thursday night when he went online for an update on the latest news and saw the headlines.

He quickly switched from the game to the horrific scenes playing out on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.

“I saw, like everyone, the unedited video footage,” he said. “I was in awe and taken aback. ... I could not believe this was happening in a major metropolitan area. It’s the world we live in now.”

Said Turlock police Chief Rob Jackson: “I had the same feeling as I did on 9/11 ... shocked, sad and heartbroken.”

Modesto police officers – along with others from various law enforcement agencies – were wearing black mourning bands across their badges Friday.

Generally, Modesto officers only wear the bands when other California officers are killed; this is only the second time Carroll has approved the bands for fallen officers outside the state. The other time was in 2014 after a shooting left two Las Vegas officers dead.

On Tuesday, Alton Sterling, who is black, was shot dead by police outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La. A night later, Philando Castile, 32, was killed by a police officer outside St. Paul, Minn., after a traffic stop. His girlfriend, who was in the passenger seat, broadcast his final moments on Facebook.

Ceres police Chief Brent Smith said he has seen portions of videos of both shootings but believes people need to wait for an investigation to be complete before coming to conclusions.

“Too many times now, the media will present a picture or a video that causes citizens to come to their own conclusion,” he said. “We have to sit back and let time and the courts decide what is just. If the officers did something wrong or illegal, then they will pay for what they did, but the courts and justice system need to make that decision.”

Harden and Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson criticized Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, who said of Castile’s death: “Would this have happened if those passengers, the driver and the passengers, were white? I don’t think it would have …”

“Let the investigation take place,” Harden said. “The immediate, quick judgment by those not remotely familiar with law enforcement … and to make that comment for political expedience does a huge disservice to law enforcement and community.”

Millions of people saw the Facebook video of Castile dying in the driver’s seat of his car while his girlfriend in the passenger’s seat filmed the post-shooting scene.

“Social media is used to incite this type of behavior,” Christianson said. “You get a snippet in time. You have to say to yourself, ‘Is there something else?’ ”

All Modesto-area law enforcement leaders said they feel their forces have good relationships with their communities. They each reach out to residents and groups, staying in touch and keeping the lines of communication open.

Christianson said he understands there are residents who either don’t like law enforcement officers or will never trust them. But, like others, he feels his staff has great community support.

Thursday’s shootings in Dallas hit Smith especially hard.

He said the ambush nature of that attack was similar to one that killed a Ceres sergeant and badly injured an officer in 2005.

Sgt. Howard Stevenson was killed and Officer Sam Ryno severely injured when they were shot by a man who told a liquor store clerk to call 911, then waited for police to arrive while hiding a semiautomatic rifle beneath a poncho.

Smith was out for a walk Thursday evening when he started getting calls from his command staff about the shooting in Dallas.

The watch commander had already made the decision to have officers ride two to a car overnight for safety.

By daytime Friday, Ceres officers were back to riding solo; Smith said doubling up affects service with fewer patrol cars on the street. But he said he’s considering, at least for now, having officers ride together at night, a practice the California Highway Patrol has followed for years.

Smith said every time an officer is killed in this country, he writes a letter to his or her chief offering condolences.

“It seems like I signed five of them yesterday,” he said. “It is a confusing and difficult time right now. It seems to me that the rule of law in this country is eroding.”

Carroll said he did not have officers double up in cars or take other safety precautions similar to those of other departments around the country.

“There weren’t any threats or anything actionable here in Modesto,” he said. “I have been talking to members of the Clergy Council and the NAACP, and there wasn’t any threats that we saw. Not that it couldn’t happen here, because it could.”

Carroll said he had previously been in contact with the Clergy Council and the NAACP regarding the shootings by officers in Baton Rouge and near St. Paul and had planned to discuss the events at their next meeting.

Christianson said he would be sending his Honor Guard to Dallas for the officers’ services.

On Friday morning, Turlock’s Jackson said residents stood by their officers, delivering or having doughnuts, flowers, cookies and cards of support sent to their office.

“They just want to let us know that they are there for us,” he said.

Harden said there was irony to Thursday’s shootings.

“Isn’t it interesting that officers were there to protect those who were exercising their First Amendment rights and just doing their jobs,” he said. “Yet, they were attacked. It’s a sad irony of where we are as a country.”

This story was originally published July 8, 2016 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Law enforcement officers shocked, saddened by events in Dallas."