West Covina Police Department, California
End of Watch: Wednesday, August 31, 1983
Age: 26
Tour of Duty: 3 years
Badge Number: 7
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: August 31, 1983
Weapon Used: Officer's shotgun
Suspect Info: Sentenced to death
Officer Kenneth Wrede was shot and killed after responding to a disturbance call at 12:19 p.m. Citizens had called the police after seeing a male under the influence of PCP acting bizarrely in the street at Francisquito Avenue and Glenview Road.
When Officer Wrede arrived, he struggled with the suspect momentarily before running back to his patrol car. The male also ran to the officer's patrol car. Because the man was high on PCP, he was able to rip the shotgun from the mounting bracket out of the vehicle's dashboard and shoot Officer Wrede with it. As a K-9 officer arrived on the scene, his dog took the suspect down. After being treated at a local hospital for dog bites, he was charged with murder and jailed.
The killer, 29, was sentenced to death, but the sentence was overturned by a federal appeals court in 2000. In July 2002, the killer was tried a second time and was again sentenced to death. As of December 3, 2022, he was on death row.
Officer Wrede had served with the West Covina Police Department for three years. He was survived by his wife and parents.
In 2007 a four-mile section of I-10 was dedicated as the West Covina Police Officer Kenneth Scott Wrede Memorial Highway in memory of Officer Wrede.