By C1 Staff
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — The names of two officers killed last year were added to the Riverside County Peace Officer Memorial on Monday in downtown Riverside.
According to The Press Enterprise, Officer Michael Crain from the Riverside Police Department and Sgt. Gilbert Cortez from the CDCR were added to the Safe in His Arms monument.
Crain was shot and killed when he and his partner were ambushed by ex-cop Christopher Dorner while stopped at a red light on February 7, 2013.
Cortez and his K-9, Mattie, were killed in an automobile accident in San Diego County on March 25, 2013. He was on his way to conduct a contraband inspection when his vehicle veered off the road and overturned.
“Each one made the ultimate sacrifice to protect every single one of our communities from those who wish us all harm,” Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff told an audience of slain officers’ family members, officers and others. “This toll in lost officers taken from us all is a terrible, terrible price we have collectively paid here in Riverside County.”
The ceremony commemorated 62 fallen officers who have died in the line of duty since 1895.