Dallas Police Chief David Brown's sorrow over the sniper slayings of five law enforcement officers has captured his city's public grief – but is even more profound because of his personal history of loss.
Shortly after he earned the rank of chief in 2010, Brown lost his son, David Brown Jr., in a police-related shooting in which the younger Brown shot and killed an officer in a nearby town,
CNN notes.
"My family has not only lost a son, but a fellow police officer and a private citizen lost their lives at the hands of our son," Brown
told his department at the time. "That hurts so deeply I cannot adequately express the sadness I feel inside my heart."
He also endured the on-duty death of former partner, Officer Walter Williams, in 1988 – just five years after earning his badge,
The Dallas Morning News has reported.
And in 1991, Brown's younger brother, Kelvin,
was killed by drug dealers in the Phoenix area.
Yet Brown overcame the tragedies and climbed up the ranks of the Dallas Police Department – until last week, when the latest tragedy hit not just Brown, but the entire country. Is was the deadliest assault on U.S. law enforcement since 9/11.
"We're hurting. Our profession is hurting. Dallas officers are hurting. We are heartbroken," Brown said in the wake of a sniper's rampage during an anti-police brutality protest. "There are no words to describe the atrocity that occurred to our city. All I know is that this: This must stop, this divisiveness between our police and our citizens."
Yet, according to CNN, Brown's belief in community policing, and connecting with residents of his city, was on display just hours before the slaughter.
"We saw police officers shaking hands and giving high fives and hugging people and being really in the moment with us," demonstrator Sharay Santora told CNN.
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