Pieces Of Art To Honor The 5 Fallen Officers Of Dallas' July 7 Ambush Attack
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — Sunday marks three years since the deadly attack on four Dallas police officers and a DART Transit officer in downtown, and for the next three days Dallas will honor their lives in the most personal way it knows how — art.
The officers that died July 7, 2016 were at work protecting a crowd peacefully protesting police brutality. That is until a sniper shot 12 officers, killing five and leaving the city in a state of shock.
And San Antonio-based artist Tommy Capell believes the five fallen officers' legacies must be kept alive, long and beyond their time on earth.
Capell has created five chairs — honorary chairs — carefully hand-crafted and engraved for police officers Lorne Ahrens, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Michael Smith and DART officer Brent Thompson.
"When an officer's killed in the line of duty there's going to be a void at that chair," Capell said. "It's emotional... Sometimes I get real emotional. A while back, I lost it there during the deal, everything was OK today, but it was emotional."
His nonprofit, "Saving A Hero's Place," hand-crafts more than 100 chairs each year. And for Tommy, every seat has a unique story of a life and a sacrifice.
"When the new officers come in, they're going to ask, 'Who was this? What happened?" he said. "It continues on their legacy with the department."
The Dallas Police Department will also unveil a memorial sculpture designed by Dallas sculptor Barvo Walker at a later date.