Police Officer Marc Todd Atkinson

Marc Todd Atkinson

Police 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 on North 30th Avenue just north of West Catalina Drive. 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.