Colleagues Face a Time of Sadness, Shock, Reflection

For Sgt. Gary Wagers and scores of California Highway Patrol officers, the word “duty” took on a suddenly sad and tragic meaning Sunday after one of their own was gunned down during a routine traffic stop.

Officer Don Burt was questioning a man in a BMW on Saturday night when the man pulled out a 9-millimeter pistol and pumped six bullets into the officer, then stood over him and fired a fatal round in the eye.

The slaying drove home an on-the-job risk that every officer accepts, but few really think could happen to them or to one of their colleagues. When it does happen, it’s emotionally baffling, transforming a regular day of work into a balancing act between mourning a loss and reflecting on their own vulnerability, several officers said.

Wagers, who has worked the patrol division for years and has gone to many police funerals, said every time another of his colleagues dies, it’s like the first time all over again.

And so it is with Burt, the rookie CHP officer whom Wagers supervised.

As he fought back tears, Wagers said the senselessness of it left almost a choking numbness throughout the department.

“I don’t think the gravity of this will hit until we get over this numbness,” he said. “I’ve had to go through something like this many times and it never gets easier.”

Wagers, who joined the Santa Ana crew in 1993 from Riverside, added, “It makes you ask a bunch of questions: Am I really safe or have I been just lucky?”

For younger officers, who make up a large portion of the patrol division in Santa Ana’s CHP office, Burt’s death was especially difficult.

“Unfortunately, if you’ve been here for any length of time at all, you’ve had to experience somebody being killed in the line of duty,” said Keith Thornhill, who has attended funerals for a partner, a supervisor and a classmate in the last three years.

“But for newer officers, who have not had to deal with that, and who are just embarking on their careers, this is an overwhelming disaster,” Thornhill said.

Officer Steve Ruppert, also a rookie patrol officer, said Sunday he was trying to prepare himself for another night on the beat.

“It hits home,” said Ruppert. “I’m supposed to work tonight and I’ve been thinking about it and thinking about it. I don’t know how I’m going to feel going out there tonight. I know it’s going to be different from any other night.”

Officer Antonio Beltran, Burt’s best friend, had agreed to an interview, but after a reporter questioned him about the slain officer Beltran walked away in grief.

“I think that’s all he can handle for today,” Ruppert said. “I don’t think he wants to be disturbed anymore. We can’t disturb him anymore.”

As the news of Burt’s death spread through the law-enforcement community, the Santa Ana CHP office was flooded with phone calls from police officers and residents, some of whom brought bouquets of flowers to the office.

Fellow officers remembered Burt as being keen on safety and loving his job.

“When others [officers] would go and get coffee, Don would go and get that extra ticket,” said Officer Ari Wolfe, Burt’s beat partner and the second officer on the scene.

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Wolfe said that although Burt had been with the CHP almost 15 months, he took on a leadership role among young officers, always making sure to introduce himself to the other rookies who arrived at the department.

“He was a go-getter,” Wolfe said.

Officer Thornhill, who has worked for the department for 10 years, said he spoke to Burt about his retirement, and Burt reacted in disbelief.

“The look on his face was overwhelming,” Thornhill said. “He couldn’t imagine himself not being able to do this. It was unfathomable to him.”

Burt, who loved soccer and rock music, was looking forward to being a father. He recently took sonogram pictures of his baby to the department to show friends.

“There was nothing there to see, but he was so excited about it and wanted all of us to see it,” Wolfe said. “He was funny in an esoteric way.”

During the afternoon briefing Sunday, counselors were on hand to help the officers cope with their colleague’s murder. On a wall nearby was a photo of CHP Sgt. John Steel, who died in a motorcycle crash while on duty in 1993.

“We’re just starting to heal from that death when this happens,” Thornhill said. “We’re going to put [Burt’s] photo next to Sgt. Steel’s photo.”