A veteran police officer form the northern region of Idaho dies after he was fatally shot by a 26-year-old man who also stole his patrol car.
Sergeant Greg Moore was patrolling in the Coeur d’Alene neighborhood. According to Police Chief Lee White the sergeant was shot on Tuesday at round 1:30 AM after he had checked a suspicious person. Sergeant Christie Wood, a police spokeswoman, reported that Moore died at Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene at 5:50 PM. Wood also declared:
“He was out doing routine random patrols in an area that we have experienced some auto burglaries in. So he was doing what we do. It’s just incredibly tragic.”
Jonathan Renfro of Rathdrum, the suspect, was caught after a high-speed chase. On Tuesday the man appeared in court and was charged with attempt of murder, theft of an officer’s gun and of a police vehicle and was also charged for being a felon possessing a gun.
Jonathan Renfro was arrested after the car race reached around 125 mph. He was captured when a police dog dragged him from underneath a commercial truck, where he was hiding. Renfro was held in the Kootenai County jail and the bail was set at $2 million. He has a long criminal record and he was on probation. After Moore died in the hospital the charge with attempted murder was expected to be upgraded.
On Tuesday evening hundreds of people showed up in Coeur d’Alene for a candlelight vigil for Sergeant Moore. The crown included officers from all over the region, elected officials and city workers.
Moore was a 16-year veteran of the police department and had two children. In late 1997 he began his career in law enforcement in Asotin County, Washington where he worked as a deputy sheriff. In1999 he began working in Coeur d’Alene.
A close friend of the Moore, Don Eckles, said that he was amazed at how people who did not even know Moore came and supported everything the officer stood up for. Steve Widmyer, Coeur d’Alene Mayor remarked that their community was wounded since they had lost such a great man.
Police Chief Lee White was also impressed with the show of appreciation. White said that one does not witness something like this everywhere in the US and mentioned how grateful he feels to be part of such a community.
Image Source: Kxly.com
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