Police Officer Marc Todd Atkinson

Marc Todd Atkinson

Officer Marc Atkinson was shot and killed after being ambushed by suspected drug traffickers.

Officer Atkinson was driving a marked patrol car while following the suspects, who turned a corner, stopped their vehicle, and waited for him at 3000 N. 30th Street. As he turned the corner, the three suspects opened fire, striking him twice in the head, killing him. A citizen who witnessed the incident engaged the suspects in a gunfight with his own weapon, seriously wounding one. The other two suspects fled but were later arrested.

Officer Atkinson, a law enforcement officer of five years and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm, is survived by his wife and six-month-old child.