Slain Riverside-area CHP Officer Andre Moye Jr. remembered as ‘very giving and caring person’
Slain Riverside-area CHP Officer Andre Moye Jr. remembered as ‘very giving and caring person’
by Jeff Horseman
Even in training, California Highway Patrol Officer Andre Moye Jr. stood out.
“He was very confident, very positive in his abilities,” recalled CHP Inland Division Chief Bill Dance about meeting Moye while he was training to become a motorcycle officer, a post he held for the past year.
Moye’s mother “told me that this was his dream job,” Dance added. “He loved going to work and it’s what he always wanted to do.”
A three-year department veteran from Moreno Valley, Moye, 34, died in a shootout Monday evening, Aug. 12 after he started impounding a vehicle following a traffic stop off the 215 Freeway in Riverside.
The suspect, identified as 49-year-old Aaron Luther of Beaumont, also was killed in what’s been described as a “long and horrific” gun battle that wounded two other CHP officers, one critically; he is expected to recover.
Moye worked as an electrician but always dreamed of joining the CHP, CBS LA reported, citing family members who came to the hospital where Moye was airlifted.
The station quoted Deborah Howard, who said she was Moye’s stepmother. “I’m texting Junior like, ‘Junior, you OK? I’m worried about you, give me a call,’” Howard told the station.
“Next thing I know, I called his dad, and I said, ‘Hey, there’s a shootout going and there’s a CHP officer on a bike,’ and his dad said, ‘it was him.’ It was unbelievable.”
Moye recently volunteered to be part of a local Fourth of July Parade, CBS LA reported.
I am devastated by the tragedy that unfolded earlier in Riverside. Tonight, I mourn the loss of one of our own, CHP Officer Andre Moye, who was killed during a shootout following a traffic stop. Prayers go out to all, including the responding officers injured in the shooting.
— Warren Stanley (@CHPCommissioner) August 13, 2019
At a Tuesday afternoon news conference at the CHP station in Riverside, Dance said Moye “embodied everything that the California Highway Patrol stands for – professionalism, dedication, and service to the public. Andre had a service heart and that’s why he was a member of this organization.”
“He was a very giving and caring person,” Dance added. “He was very well-liked and respected by the entire staff here.”
Moye’s next of kin includes his wife, both parents, two brothers, and two sisters.
Moye is the second Inland CHP motorcycle officer to die in the line of duty this year. Sgt. Steve Licon was killed in April in Lake Elsinore after being hit by a car on the 15 Freeway while writing a traffic ticket.
Since the CHP’s formation in 1929, 228 officers have been killed in the line of duty, according to the California Association of Highway Patrolmen.
The CAHP Credit Union has set up a memorial fund for Moye’s family. Donations can be made online at www.cahpcu.org/OfficerAndreMoyeJrMemorialFund or mailed to: Officer Andre Moye Jr. Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 276507, Sacramento, CA 95827.
All credit goes to Jeff Horseman
Originally published on https://www.dailynews.com
