Sheriff’s Sergeant Was Killed in the Line of Duty by 27-Year-Old Parolee

Sgt. Steven Owen, 53, died at a hospital about two hours after he was gunned down by a 27-year-old parolee behind a home in Lancaster, a desert community north of Los Angeles. His mother, adult son and daughter and his wife, who is a detective in the Sheriff Department’s Arson/Explosives Detail, were at his bedside when he died, said Neal B. Tyler, the Sheriff’s Department interim sheriff and executive officer.

“This is the thing we all dread,” Tyler said at a news conference.

Owen, who also is survived by another adult son, was a 29-year decorated veteran, authorities said.

He was shot in the face with a large-caliber bullet that fragmented, said Mayor R. Rex Parris, who knew Owen for 10 years.

“I just left 100 officers crying. It’s indescribable seeing that many sheriff’s deputies in tears,” Parris said.

“They brought him back three times. They worked on him for an hour but they were never able to stabilize …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms