06-03-2011, 09:41 PM
in service to his community~~
RIP
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Officer Jefferson “Jeff” Taylor, who was struck by lightning on Monday, May 23, while on tornado disaster response duty in Joplin, passed away at a hospital here on Friday. He was 31 years old. He worked for Riverside, a suburb on the north side of Kansas City.
“Jeff Taylor volunteered to assist with the Joplin disaster recovery,” said Greg Mills, Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety for the City of Riverside. “He was a highly dedicated officer and a devoted public servant, and we will always remember his sacrifice.”
Officer Taylor is the first officer in the history of Riverside Police Department to die in the line of duty, and the first emergency disaster responder to pass away as a result of the tornado in Joplin on May 22.
Taylor was part of Riverside’s 12-member contingent of police officers, firefighters and public works staff members who responded to the Joplin tornado disaster. On the evening after the tornado, as a new line of storms moved through the Joplin area, Taylor had just returned to a command post when lightning struck the ground near where he was working.
RIPSPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Officer Jefferson “Jeff” Taylor, who was struck by lightning on Monday, May 23, while on tornado disaster response duty in Joplin, passed away at a hospital here on Friday. He was 31 years old. He worked for Riverside, a suburb on the north side of Kansas City.
“Jeff Taylor volunteered to assist with the Joplin disaster recovery,” said Greg Mills, Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety for the City of Riverside. “He was a highly dedicated officer and a devoted public servant, and we will always remember his sacrifice.”
Officer Taylor is the first officer in the history of Riverside Police Department to die in the line of duty, and the first emergency disaster responder to pass away as a result of the tornado in Joplin on May 22.
Taylor was part of Riverside’s 12-member contingent of police officers, firefighters and public works staff members who responded to the Joplin tornado disaster. On the evening after the tornado, as a new line of storms moved through the Joplin area, Taylor had just returned to a command post when lightning struck the ground near where he was working.