Authorities in Boulder, Colo., confirmed on Monday that a local police officer, Eric Talley, was among the 10 victims killed in a mass shooting at a grocery store.
Talley was the first officer to arrive on the scene soon after 2:30 p.m. local time following reports of “a possible person with a patrol rifle,” Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said during a press conference, calling the officer’s actions “heroic.”
“He was the first on the scene, and he was fatally shot,” Herold said. “My heart goes out to the victims of this incident. And I’m grateful to the police officers that responded. And I am so sorry about the loss of Officer Talley.”
Talley, 51, had been with the department since 2010 and had seven children.
“He loved his kids and his family more than anything,” his father, Homer Talley, said in a statement obtained by The New York Times.
“He was looking for a job to keep himself off the front lines and was learning to be a drone operator,” he added. “He didn’t want to put his family through something like this and he believed in Jesus Christ.”
Television footage showed law enforcement saluting Eric Talley’s body as it was taken from the scene.
Herold announced that the suspected gunman was injured and in custody as of Monday night. She did not identify the suspect, adding that a “complex” investigation was expected to take “no less than five days to complete.”
Authorities have not yet released any information on the other nine victims in the Boulder shooting.