On September 30, a police officer in Forest Acres, South Carolina, was shot and killed as he struggled with a suspect following a foot chase in Richland Mall.
The officer, 32-year-old Greg Alia, was a seven-year veteran of the force.
According to NBC News, Officer Alia “was called to the Richland Mall in Forest Acres with two other local officers around 8 a.m. after an employee of a nearby bank reported seeing a suspicious person inside a van in the mall’s parking lot.” When Alia arrived, 34-year-old suspect Jarvis Hall fled into the mall on foot, and Alia gave chase.
WISTV reports that Officer Alia and another officer approached Hall in the mall, and Hall “got into a struggle with Alia, pulled out a gun, and fired on Alia.” Hall was then subdued and arrested by other officers.
A witness to the shooting said, “They were very frantic, and they were trying to hurry, you know, getting here. And nothing was stopping them either, you know. They were coming wide open. It was really scary to see something like that. It was really scary.”
Just hours later, visibly shaken Forest Acres Police Chief Gene Sealy held a news conference announcing Alia’s death. He described Alia as “an outstanding young man” and “an outstanding police officer.” Sealy said Alia was “a role model for other officers.”
Alia was married, and his wife had just given birth to a baby boy.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.