In Remembrance: Officer Tyrone D. Franklin

On January 7, 2007 at 1:15am, Officer Tyron D. Franklin, 23, was shot to death while inside a Paterson, New Jersey restaurant. Officer Franklin was a rookie police officer who graduated from the academy in April, 2006.

According to a New York Times report, Detective Lt. Anthony Triana, a spokesman for the Paterson Police Department, stated that Officer Franklin, off duty and in plain clothes at the time, refused to surrender his wallet during a robbery. The killer then took out his gun and started shooting hitting Officer Franklin several times as well as a restaurant patron at least once. Officer Franklin was pronounced dead at Saint Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson.

The suspect in the fatal shooting of Officer Franklin has been arrested and is a member of the Crips street gang according to law enforcement authorities. A tattoo showing numbered dice on his right hand marked him as a Crips member.

Thousands of police officers from across the State of New Jersey and beyond honored Officer Franklin at his funeral on January 13.

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