The five Dallas police officers who were gunned down at a protest last week will be remembered and honored for sacrificing their lives in the line of duty. That’s how Katrina Ahrens, the wife of Officer Lorne Ahrens, will remember her husband, who she said aided a civilian during the shooting Thursday night, after having been shot himself.
“Lorne would’ve been proud to sacrifice his life for anybody’s” Ahrens told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday. “He would’ve taken a bullet voluntarily for any of his other officers … that’s just who he was.”
Lorne Ahrens, 48, was one of five police officers killed by a sniper on Thursday at the downtown Dallas protest, the deadliest incident for police since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Katrina Ahrens is a detective on the Dallas police force, where she met Lorne during his training. She couldn’t get enough of his smile and exuberant energy.
“He commanded a room not just by his size but by his personality,” Ahrens said. “You just wanted to absorb his personality.”
Ahrens wasn’t the only one charmed by Lorne’s presence. Sgt. Anthony Gunn of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, who worked with Lorne, said, “He was the kind of guy that it made you happy when you got to work and saw he would be working the shift with you. You could count on him to do the right thing, the right way.”
Lorne was a dedicated officer who would be proud of the way the Dallas Police Department and his chain of command rallied together, his wife said.
When discussing the turmoil that took place Thursday night, Ahrens described her husband as a “fighter” and “true warrior.” He fought to take care of his own injuries at the scene, and “was able to help a citizen with the wounds that he had,” she said.
Lorne Ahrens’ funeral will be held in Dallas on Wednesday.