Our nation is in a hard and terrible place these days. Gun violence continues to strike down far too many people, whether in mass shootings, single shootings or questionable shootings by police. It’s all wrong. And the wounding and killing of police officers is among the worst of it.
The latest incident of an officer being ambushed came Friday night outside Houston, where The Associated Press reports that Shannon J. Miles, who has a criminal history including convictions for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct with a firearm, faces charges that he fatally shot Darren Goforth, a husband, father and 10-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, multiple times in the back. Goforth, who apparently didn’t even know Miles, had been gassing up his car at a service station.
Brian McCullar told the AP that he knew Goforth, 47, who had patrolled his neighborhood. “He was passionate about what he did,” McCullar said. “It’s a huge loss for this area. You’re talking about a guy that made a difference.”
