Officer Shot to Death During Ride-Along
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EAST PALO ALTO — A police officer who was taking a 14-year-old Explorer on a ride-along was killed by a gunman who remained at large late Saturday.
Richard May, 39, was responding to a disturbance at Villa Taqueria off University Avenue when the attack occurred about 5 p.m., police said.
May was approaching the gunman as he walked away from the business, when the man turned around and shot him, police said.
The teenager riding in the squad car, who was not harmed, made the first call to report the shooting, said East Palo Alto Police Lt. Rod Norris.
Police blocked off the neighborhood to search for the killer, who fled after the shooting.
May, who was married with three children, had been on the force for 18 months, Norris said. He was the second officer killed in the line of duty in the department’s history.
Residents said they noticed heightened police activity in the area shortly before the shooting.
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