Calif. LEO dies from heart attack he suffered a month earlier on duty

By Rosalio Ahumada
The Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A UC Davis police officer, who had worked for the department for more than 24 years, died on Monday from complications from a heart attack he suffered while on duty last month.

Officer Walter Broussard, who had most recently been assigned to the University of California Davis Medical Center campus in Sacramento, died from complications resulting from the heart attack while on duty, the UC Davis Police Department announced Thursday in a Facebook post.

Broussard suffered the heart attack while on duty on June 10 and since then had been hospitalized in the Bay Area, according to the Peace Officers Research Association of California.

The peace officers association established a memorial fund for Broussard’s family and donations can be made online. Broussard’s wife “incurred substantial debt” to be by his side at the hospital, so donations will go toward helping his family retire the debt and arrange funeral services, according to the association.

Broussard died at the age of 62, and he is survived by his wife, Mary Grace, and his children, according to a UC Davis news release.

https://www.facebook.com/UCDavisPoliceDepartment/posts/pfbid02nFWgQWwpFxVAMbAR5fuMAqRUc2K71gveryDrpBrBkVDafMSQkAEKpvuZhogQhU1Gl

UC Davis Police Capt. Mark Brunet said their “small department is numb… losing a good friend and officer.” Broussard had been working at the Sacramento campus for the past three years.

Brunet said many at the hospital knew and loved Broussard, who had the same type of connections at the Davis campus.

“Walt was a kind and honest man whose approach to life was genuine and sincere,” Brunet said in the news release. “His energy was contagious, and many were blessed to work around him.”

At UC Davis, Broussard worked in numerous roles including as a K9 officer, defensive tactics instructor, hostage negotiation and field training officer. Before joining the campus department in March 1998, he worked as a deputy for seven years at the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office.

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