Prayer service set for San Bernardino police officer shot in head
A prayer service is scheduled Monday night for San Bernardino Police Officer Gabriel Garcia, who was critically wounded last week in a shooting.
The service is scheduled for 7 p.m. at San Manuel Stadium, 280 S. E St. in San Bernardino.
Garcia, 31, was shot twice in the torso and once in the head when he approached about a half-dozen people in the 1900 block of Garner Avenue about 2 a.m. Friday, the Press-Enterprise reported.
Garcia accompanied a rookie officer just two months out of the training academy, police said. The trainee engaged Garcia’s shooter in a prolonged firefight and eventually killed the man, identified as Alex Alvarado, 38.
According to a series of messages posted on the San Bernardino Police Department’s Twitter account, Garcia is in an induced coma and is “responding well to treatment.”
The rookie officer, whose name has not been released, did “a pretty remarkable job,” said San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan.
“Gabe is an outstanding officer, a great team member and a great man,” Burguan said Friday. “His calming and compassionate nature has earned multiple letters from citizens thanking him for his assistance with crimes such as armed robberies and carjackings.”
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