Dallas sniper victims included fathers, volunteers, veteran
Michael Smith, 55, once received a "Cops' Cop" award from the Dallas Police Association.
Father Michael Forge, pastor at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church, notified parishioners of Smith's death in an email.
The article described him as conscientious, noting he often attended advanced training on his own dime.
The day before Ahrens, 48, was killed, he bought a homeless man dinner and encouraged fellow officers to greet the man, Jorge Barrientos, another Dallas police officer who was wounded, told the Dallas Morning News.
The former semi-pro football player rose from dispatcher at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to become a senior corporal on the Dallas police force.
Former sheriff's department colleagues described Ahrens as an incredible dispatcher who always looked out for the patrol deputies.
On Thursday, he became the first DART officer killed in the line of duty since the agency's police force was founded in 1989, spokesman Morgan Lyons said.
Thompson had six grown children from a previous marriage and recently welcomed his third grandchild, according to Tara Thornton, a close friend of Thompson's 22-year-old daughter, Lizzie.
According to Thompson's LinkedIn page, he served as an international police liaison officer, helping teach and mentor Iraqi police.
Patrick Zamarripa had an urge to serve — first in the Navy, where his family said he did three tours in Iraq, then back home in Texas as a Dallas police officer.
Michael Krol, 40, was a caring person who always wanted to help others, his mother said.
Wounded by a bullet and shrapnel, Officer Jorge Barrientos is most concerned with the healing of his Dallas police force and the community at large.
From her hospital room, DART Officer Misty McBride told loved ones the day after she was struck by gunfire that she just wanted to return to work.
McBride, an officer and mother of a 10-year-old girl, was struck by bullets in her abdomen and arm, her father said.
Carson described McBride as a dedicated officer who often speaks with excitement about learning new policing skills.
Two of Taylor's sons left the demonstration with her, but the other two — Jamar, 12, and Kavion, 17 — sought cover in a downtown hotel and were stuck behind a police barricade until around 4 a.m., Williams said.
When his marriage wasn't legally recognized, Dallas Area Rapid Transit Officer Jesus Retana helped change the way DART treats same-sex partners of its employees.
Resource Center communications manager Rafael McDonnell called Retana a friend and said he was recovering after leaving the hospital, where he received treatment for unspecified injuries.
Ivan Saldana was among the Dallas police officers directing traffic downtown during the protest when the shots rang out.
A 15-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department, Saldana has felt the simmering tension between police and civilians for a while.
Saldana has watched the news reports of officer-involved shootings around the country and said those who apply race as a motive don't understand the challenges police face in the moments before firing.
Becoming a police officer or soldier was her dream, Bayer said, and Rocha attended a police academy at Madison Area Technical College.
Rocha used her Spanish language skills during an internship with the Madison Police Department in 2013, spokesman Joel DeSpain said, helping with a program called Amigos en Azul (Friends in Blue).