Reserve Deputy Sheriff Constance Ellen Worland

Constance Ellen Worland

Reserve Deputy Sheriff Constance Worland was accidentally shot and killed by her partner following a call involving a man with a gun in a high-crime area around 4 p.m.

After arriving at the scene, at 6 Ironwood Lane, the deputies were told the suspects had gone to another area of the housing complex. As the deputies got back into their patrol car, the shotgun discharged as it was being placed into the shotgun mount. The blast struck Deputy Worland in the side.

Deputy Worland had served as a volunteer reserve deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for five years.

A plaque honoring her service and sacrifice is in the main lobby of the Sheriff’s Communications Center in East Los Angeles. She was the first female reserve killed in the line of duty in the United States.

A single mother, she was survived by her three daughters; ages 20, 17, and 16 at the time of her death.