Southern California

Families of LAPD Officers Grieve in Wake of Dallas Shooting

The heartbreak for law enforcement families in the city of Dallas was felt in Southern California as loved ones of fallen LAPD officers gathered at a support group Saturday in Long Beach.

Kathy Lee said she never imagined she would be a widow with two young daughters.

Her husband was Nicholas Lee; a 40-year-old LAPD officer killed in the line of duty in March of 2014. A truck slammed into his patrol car in Beverly Hills. He was on the force for 16 years when he left behind his wife and two young daughters. His oldest daughter, now 10 years old, still struggles with the death of her dad. But on Sunday, the Lee family was able to embrace other families connected by tragedy.

"I introduce myself as Marisabel Gonzalez, widow of Landon, end of watch 10-22-06," Gonzalez, who was 27 at the time of her husband's death, said.

Gonzalez talks about October 22 as the day her life changed forever. Her husband, 31-year-old Landon Dorris, an LAPD patrol officer, was killed in the line of duty responding to a traffic call.

"My boys missed out on so much," she said. "My best friends now are the widows because they know our priority is our kids."

Her boys are now 11 and 12. She said not a day goes by where she doesn't think or talk about her husband. She says her son Landon Jr. is his spitting image.

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"He looks like his dad - the smile reminds me of him," Gonzalez said.

He broke the news to her recently that he wants to follow in his dad's footsteps.

"I don't want my son to be a police officer. He's a good boy," Gonzalez said. "For him to risk his life for others - I don't want that anymore."

They said they now grieve with the families of the fallen Dallas police officers killed on Thursday. The women said their hearts broke when they heard about the police ambush shooting. It forced them to relive the pain of losing their husbands all over.

"I've had so much support from the LAPD. The community helped me to move on," Lee said.

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