Communities across the state and the country expressed tears, sadness, compassion, and gratitude for law enforcement a day after Dallas Police officers were killed during a protest.
At least five officers died, and several others were injured, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said.
“When you’ve got a group of people that are running in front of gunfire to save people that are protesting against you, that takes a special kind of person, I think it deserves some recognition and they need to be remembered for what they did,” said Lubbock resident Ricky Wilks.
Wilks organized a moment of silence and prayer at the Lubbock Regional Public Safety Memorial on Friday.
“A tragedy on massive scale. Something like this shouldn’t happen. Regardless of your political beliefs, it just shouldn’t happen,” Wilks said.
“We stand beside and we support and we mourn and we grieve with the Dallas Police Department,” said Lubbock Police Chief Greg Stevens in a press conference Friday.
“This is a moment to show support for Dallas and to show support for the law enforcement officers that are going to be working under these incredible circumstances in the coming days and in the coming weeks,” Stevens explained. “And it’s a chance for us to say thanks for what we have and how we have it in Lubbock, Texas and on the South Plains.”
Longtime Lubbock resident Emma Hernandez, said her son is a police officer in San Antonio.
“These men had no reason to lose their lives the way they did. Protecting our country, protecting the city, the great the City of Dallas, Texas. And they’re leaving behind families, children,” Hernandez said.
She told EverythingLubbock.com that she was planning to meet up with her son in Dallas, in order to attend funeral services for the fallen officers.
Pastor and Lubbock Independent School District Trustee Bill Stubblefield responded to Stevens’ press conference by saying that he appreciates the working relationship LPD has with the African-American community. He explained that more work needed to be done to resolve race relations in Lubbock, and nationwide.
“We’ve got to address it, we’ve got to say this has happened, we’ve got to bring forth positive solutions. We’ve got to bring forth the right results. We’ve got to move the level, the needle towards accountability,” Stubblefield said.
“The only thing that can take care of violence is love,” said Deshaun Avery, Senior Pastor at First Progessive Baptist Church. “I believe that the greatest thing that’s going to drive out darkness, and hatred, and violence, is love. I’m here representing love today.”
