Family, Friends, Coworkers Hold Vigil for Slain LAPD Officer

Family, Friends, Coworkers Hold Vigil for Slain LAPD Officer

by Contributing Editor

More than 100 people held a vigil Saturday in front of the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters building downtown in memory of Juan Jose Diaz, killed just hours before in a shooting in the Lincoln Heights area of Los Angeles while off-duty.

Among those attending were classmates who attended the Police Academy with Diaz, 24, two sisters, former teachers and former middle and high school classmates. Several officers were in uniform with black mourning bands around their badges.

The 8 p.m. vigil was held in front of a photo of a smiling Diaz with a sign that read: “Rest easy brother. We’ll hold the line from here.”

Sgt. Manny Hernandez was Diaz’s Police Academy sergeant in 2017 and noted his pupil “was always asking questions.

“I saw him grow up and had no doubt he’d be a great police officer,” Hernandez said. “He showed up every day with a smile on his face.”

Diaz’s sister Anahi Diaz told the crowd her brother was living his dream, noting he wanted to be a police officer since pre-school. Their mother and father “are broken,” she said.

“We need to stop this madness,” said his sister Sarahi Diaz.

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All credit goes to Contributing Editor
Originally published on https://mynewsla.com