The day after a lethal shootout at a motel left El Monte reeling, the law enforcement officials killed have been recognized Wednesday as two males united by the shared drive to serve the town that raised them.
Cpl. Michael Paredes, 42, and Officer Joseph Santana, 31, have been killed Tuesday whereas responding to a reported stabbing at an El Monte motel. Each depart behind households in mourning.
“They grew up right here; to us, they’re El Monte homegrown,” Mayor Jessica Ancona stated. “They’re our boys.”
Paredes was a virtually 22-year veteran of the El Monte Police Division, beginning as a cadet earlier than being sworn in as a full-time officer in July 2000. He’s survived by his spouse, a son and a daughter.
On Fb, his sister had modified her profile image to his badge — No. 565 — and a number of other folks had commented with prayer-hand emojis. Many wrote that he was a hero.
“Presently my household and I’d identical to to grieve our loss and never communicate publicly,” a Paredes member of the family informed The Instances, declining to remark additional.
Ancona described him as a veteran officer “who went by way of our El Monte faculties” and who was “excited to be on the pressure.”
Santana labored for his hometown of El Monte as a public works worker for six years earlier than beginning his legislation enforcement profession as a deputy with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Division.
“This tragic loss hits near residence for us,” the Sheriff’s Division stated on its Fb web page. “Officer Santana started his legislation enforcement profession with our division in March 2018, and was a graduate of Academy Class 211.”
He served on the West Valley Detention Heart till final October.
“He was an important companion and beloved by all who knew him,” the Sheriff’s Division wrote.
After three years with San Bernardino County, Santana returned to El Monte to affix the Police Division in December, metropolis officers stated.
He’s survived by his spouse, a daughter and two twin boys.
On Wednesday, a number of folks commented on a photograph Santana posted to Fb a yr in the past of him holding a toddler.
“God relaxation his soul, thanks to your service sir,” one learn.
“Prayers to his spouse, kids, family and friends, and brothers/sisters in blue,” stated one other.
Paredes and Santana “paid the final word sacrifice, whereas in efficiency of a noble occupation, serving the neighborhood they beloved,” the town of El Monte stated in a launch.
El Monte Metropolis Councilwoman Maria Morales stated on social media that she was “heartbroken.”
“They went to work right now to guard the folks of our metropolis and to reply the decision for assist,” she wrote early Wednesday in a Fb submit. “Sadly, their selfless acts of service led them to a spot of evil they usually have been taken from us in a mindless act of cowardice.”
“As a metropolis official and, extra importantly, as a mom, I can solely think about the ache and struggling their households at the moment are enduring,” she wrote.
The Police Division and the El Monte Police Officers Assn. arrange an official donation web page to assist the households of Paredes and Santana.
