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"What thoughts permeate the minds of police officers when one of their own is shot and killed on the streets they patrol in order that we might be safe from harm?"

Phoenix Public Safety Manager and Police Chief Jack Harris was recently asked that question by media who gathered to learn the details of the tragic death of Phoenix Police Officer Travis Murphy. Harris responded, “The mindset or theory that runs through officers is why did it happen, how could it be, there is anger, fear, the feeling of loss.”

For more than four years, Phoenix Officer Travis Murphy patrolled the streets of Phoenix performing a job that he absolutely loved. He was a family man who loved his wife and 2-year-old daughter. In the first weeks of May, the Murphy’s proudly announced the birth of their baby boy and when Travis was not on-duty, he was happily fulfilling the role of husband and father.

Lives changed forever on May 26, 2010 when Officer Murphy and his Squaw Peak Precinct patrol partner, Officer Jillian Mahlmeister, responded to a call involving a hit-and-run near 19th Avenue and Fairmount. Officer Murphy, 29, was shot and killed by 30-year-old Danny Martinez who was quickly apprehended and booked for first-degree murder and weapons violations.

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