By Kevin Johnson
Chicago Sun-Times
WASHINGTON — Nearly 40 percent of police officers fatally shot this year have been slain in ambush-style attacks or when they were surprised by suspects with firearms.
The killings, many stunning for their brutality, have some law enforcement and Justice Department officials scrambling to provide additional protection or training.
Of the 50 officers killed by gunfire this year - a 32 increase from the same time last year - at least 19 were victims of ambush or surprise attacks, according to a USA Today review of the case summaries and interviews with police officials.
The increase in gun-related officer deaths is particularly troubling since violent crime in much of the nation has been in steady decline. “This is a devastating and unacceptable trend,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.
Holder has launched a review of officer-safety, citing the need for research to help officers survive violent encounters, including ambush-style attacks.
In several cases, the victims suffered fatal head wounds, which Robert Kaminski, a University of South Carolina criminologist who studies attacks on police officers, and other analysts said suggests that the attackers deliberately aimed to avoid body armor.
“There is an increasing trend in the number of fatalities involving ambush,” he said. “I think it is a big concern.”
Among the recent attacks:
San Diego: Officer Jeremy Henwood, 36, a Marine veteran, was killed Aug. 7 while stopped at a streetlight. The shooter, a suspect in a separate attack moments before, pulled next to Henwood’s car and killed the officer with a shotgun blast to the head.
San Antonio: Like Henwood, Bexar County Deputy Sheriff Kenneth Vann, 48, was killed May 28, when a car pulled next to the deputy’s patrol car stopped at a red light. Without warning, the suspect fired on Vann with an AK-47 assault rifle.
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