Dallas shooting victims: what we know

On July 7, at least one sniper opened fire on police officers during a peaceful protest in Dallas over police shootings. The sniper shot 14 people, killing five police officers.

After a couple days, authorities and family have released the names of all the dead. Here’s what we know about those victims.

Brent Thompson, 43, Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer

LinkedIn

Brent Thompson was a seven-year police veteran for Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the public transportation agency. He was recently married to a fellow transit police officer.

"Brent was a great officer," James Spiller, police chief of DART, told CNN. "He was an outstanding patrol officer as well as a rail officer. We have the highest respect for him."

On his LinkedIn profile, Thompson said he was "motivated by a ‘Team’ atmosphere." "I enjoy working on challenging tasks and problem solving with my peers," he wrote. "I am constantly looking for different ways to serve the department, this helps to keep my work from becoming sedentary and boring."

According to his LinkedIn profile, Thompson worked as an international police liaison officer for DynCorp International from 2004 to 2008. In this job, he helped train police in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world.

"He was a dedicated officer," Gary Thomas, DART's president and executive director, told CNN, "dedicated to the safety of Americans — all over the world, certainly."

Michael Krol, 40, Dallas Police Department officer

Michael Krol was an eight-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department — a job that led him to leave his home state of Michigan for Texas after he heard of police jobs in Dallas.

According to family, Krol always wanted to be a police officer, to protect people. He first took a job at a security at a Michigan hospital. Later on, he worked in the Wayne County jail system. These jobs let him build some experience while biding his time for an opening at a full police force, which he found in Dallas.

"He was a big guy and had a big heart, and he was a really caring person, and wanted to help people," Brian Schoenbaechler, Krol’s brother-in-law, told the Washington Post. "It doesn’t seem real. His mom’s had a difficult time."

Patrick Zamarripa, 32, Dallas Police Department officer

Twitter

Patrick Zamarripa was a five-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department. He recently started working a shift as a bike officer in the downtown area.

Before he served as a police officer, Zamarripa served in the Navy. According to Zamarripa’s father, he served three tours in Iraq, where he worked for the military police. "He comes to the United States to protect people here," his dad told the Washington Post. "And they take his life."

Zamarripa was offered other jobs, including with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. But he declined, saying he loved being a police officer.

Zamarripa leaves behind a family, including a wife, stepson, and daughter.

Lorne Ahrens, 48, Dallas Police Department officer

Facebook

Lorne Ahrens was a 14-year police veteran of the Dallas Police Department. Before Dallas, he served at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department from 1991 to 2002.

"I had the honor of working with Lorne at LASD’s Lennox Station in the early 1990s and at Lancaster Station in the late 1990s," Anthony Gunn of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told CNN. "I was a young deputy and he was a law enforcement technician, assigned to input and dispatch calls for service at both stations.

"He was the kind of guy that it made you happy when you got to work and saw he would be working the shift with you. You could count on him to do the right thing, the right way. He was a dedicated professional. He was well-grounded, seeing the world the way it really, is but not letting the evil in the world discourage him from doing good."

Ahrens leaves behind a wife, Katrina, and their two children, a 10-year-old girl and eight-year-old boy, Steve Hendrix reported for the Washington Post.

Michael Smith, 55, Dallas Police Department officer

Todd Wagner via the Washington Post

Michael Smith was a 27-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department — the longest-serving member among those who died in the shooting.

Stephanie McCrummen reported for the Washington Post that Smith also worked as a uniformed security guard for his church, the Watermark Community Church in Dallas. "On the church’s Facebook page Friday, members recalled him handing out Dallas Police Department stickers to their kids, or running after them down the hallway, or showing them his police cruiser," McCrummen wrote.

"He was outgoing but also very tender and unassuming," Wes Butler, the director of family and children’s ministries at Watermark, told the Post. "He was just there, you know? People naturally engaged with him. He was one of the good guys, the one you’d hope your kids would go to if they ran into trouble."

Todd Wagner, Smith’s pastor, described Smith in glowing terms. "Even when serving here as part of his job, he understood that loving people was the best way to protect and serve them," Wagner said in a statement. "Mike wasn’t just concerned with safety and security at Watermark or in Dallas. It genuinely troubled him when he saw people treated as objects or when protocol got in the way of personal care. He never compromised his responsibilities, but he never walked away from a compassionate response."

Smith was an Army ranger before he joined the Dallas Police Department, Rena Guillory reported for local news station KFDM. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters, a 10-year-old and 14-year-old.

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