‘No routine stops’: Officials sort out gun battle that claimed valued CHP officer in Riverside
‘No routine stops’: Officials sort out gun battle that claimed valued CHP officer in Riverside
by Brian Rokos, Richard K. De Atley
California Highway Patrol Officer Andre Moye Jr. had “a service heart” — a man who wanted to give to his community.
Aaron Luther, with a record of violence that once included a charge of assault on a peace officer, was perhaps a man ready to die.
Luther fatally shot Moye early Monday evening during what started as a routine traffic stop, authorities said, then he died in a “horrific” shootout with officers and sheriff’s deputies who responded to the dying Moye’s call for help.
Tuesday, Moye’s fellow officers, and Luther’s family, were left to sort things out.
Moye’s law enforcement comrades and the community struggled with grief — his death was second for an Inland CHP officer in the line of duty in recent months. CHP Sgt. Steve Licon was killed April 6 when he was struck by a vehicle on the 15 Freeway in Lake Elsinore.
Two CHP officers were wounded in the Monday shootout, one critically, CHP Inland Division Chief Bill Dance said Tuesday. Both suffered leg wounds. Dance said a six-year veteran had minor wounds, while a four-year veteran was in critical condition.
“I visited with the officer this morning, and he was conscious and talking, in good spirits, and is expected to make a recovery,” Dance said.
The shootout between Luther and Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies, Riverside police officers and CHP officers was described as “long and horrific” by Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz.
On Tuesday evening, Eastridge Avenue remained closed between the east side of the 215 Freeway overpass and Sycamore Canyon Boulevard in Riverside as the investigation continued into the shootout, which Riverside Police Officer Ryan Railsback described Tuesday as complex, involving at least three law enforcement agencies.
Moye, 34, of Moreno Valley, was “a very giving and caring person,” Dance said during a news conference Tuesday at the CHP’s Riverside office, where flowers and wreaths were left by visitors.
Moye, a motor officer, “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.”
Moye, who took part in events such as a CHP open house in September 2018, where he gave a motorcycle riding demonstration. He had been a CHP officer for nearly three years, and was assigned to the Riverside Area Office upon graduation from the CHP Academy on March 3, 2017.
Moye is survived by his wife, Sara, father, mother, stepfather, brothers and sisters,
The CHP said the Moye had pulled over a white 2002 GMC pickup truck registered to Luther in the area of Box Springs Boulevard and Eastridge/Eucalyptus Avenue, west of the 215 Freeway, around 5:30 p.m. Monday.
He was filling out impound paperwork when the driver pulled a rifle from the truck and began shooting.
“People talk about routine stops, but there are no routine stops,” Dance said. Moye was taken by a Riverside police helicopter to Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley, where he died.
Luther was pronounced dead at the same hospital, according to the Riverside County Coroner’s office.
Luther’s wife said Tuesday her husband had called her from the scene as he was pulled over.
Luther, 49, of Beaumont, told McKenzie Luther he had been driving alone in the carpool lane with an expired license and no registration — and with a rifle he couldn’t legally own because of his felony record, she said.
Luther was paroled from state prison in 2004 after serving about 10 years of a 12-year sentence for attempted second-degree murder with an enhancement for the use of a firearm, first-degree burglary and second-degree burglary in Los Angeles County, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Luther was arrested by West Covina police in June 1994 in that Los Angeles County case, and one of the filed charges was assault on a peace officer with use of a semiautomatic weapon. The CDCR record does not indicate he was sentenced for that.
He was discharged from parole in 2007, according to the department.
He also was charged with multiple felonies in San Bernardino County and pleaded no contest in 2010 to assault with a deadly weapon, court records show.
From the scene of the pullover Monday, he told McKenzie he needed her to give him a ride home, she said.
He also told her he didn’t want to go to jail because then he couldn’t support her or the eight children, aged 2 to 24, who they raised together. Two of those children were Luther’s she said.
She was just pulling off the 215 Freeway near Eastridge and Eucalyptus avenues when she heard the “pop pop pop” of bullets, she said.
“Maybe it was suicide by cop,” she said Tuesday, crying. “He wasn’t out to kill cops. … I’m so sorry for the officer (who Luther killed). I know his family is going through the same thing I am.”
A bullet went through the windshield of the car McKenzie was driving with her children. When she was visited Tuesday morning at the Beaumont home, she had scratches and a black eye that she said came from the shootout.
Dennis Luther said his son had been in mental and physical pain.“He felt like his life was being taken away from him,” the father said outside his Jurupa Valley home Tuesday.
But he had no answer about why his son shot at police officers.
On Tuesday, the CHP announced it was canceling Wednesday’s plans to celebrate the agency’s 90th birthday. Instead, it will hold a traditional bell toll tribute for Moye at the CHP Academy in West Sacramento.
The California Association of Highway Patrolmen Credit Union said Tuesday it has established a memorial fund for Moye. Contributions can be made online or by mailing donations to Officer Andre Moye, Jr. Memorial Fund PO Box 276507 Sacramento, CA 95827.
Staff writers Jeff Horseman, Ryan Hagen and Jonah Valdez contributed to this story.
All credit goes to Brian Rokos, Richard K. De Atley
Originally published on https://www.dailynews.com
