Shrine Erected for Slain Officer

The day after Manhattan Beach Police Officer Martin Ganz was killed while making a traffic stop, grieving relatives, friends and strangers began placing wreaths and bouquets outside a Bank of America branch in Manhattan Beach Village near where the officer was shot.

Since then, the site, above, has become a shrine to the officer, who died Dec. 27 and was buried Monday at Inglewood Memorial Park after a ceremony attended by Gov. Pete Wilson and more than 2,500 law enforcement officers.

Flowers and candles are only part of the makeshift memorial. Everything from Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, which Ganz loved, to poems, letters of support to officers, and toy police motorcycles (Ganz was assigned to the department’s motorcycle detail) have been spotted.

One poem reads in part: “Frustrating. That’s what it’s like to be a cop today.”

“There’s some really personal things out there,” said Lee King, a reserve officer who worked as Ganz’s partner two days a week. “I’ve seen (drug awareness program) T-shirts, teddy bears and a lot of pictures and things from people who knew him personally.”