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Hundreds attend vigil for fallen Sacramento Police Officer Tara O'Sullivan

Sunday, June 23, 2019
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Hand-in-hand, female officers from Sacramento and beyond quietly processed to a vigil for Officer Tara O'Sullivan at Sacramento State University on Sunday night.

The 26-year-old was shot and killed while on duty last week.
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RELATED: Who was Officer Tara O'Sullivan?

Body camera footage from her training officer, shows what the Sacramento Police Department is calling an ambush on Officer O'Sullivan and others on scene who were trying to help a woman out of an alleged domestic disturbance.

"We lost someone whom we love, someone who put her life on the line for someone who needed her," said Robert Nelsen, the president of Sacramento State University. He knew O'Sullivan well.

She was the first female graduate of the Law Enforcement Candidate Scholars' Program.



"To watch her take control of all those guys, she stood out. She was a leader and you could tell that right from the beginning," said Nelsen.
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O'Sullivan is originally from the Bay Area.

RELATED: 'She was living her values,' Sacramento mourns loss of young police officer
She graduated from College Park High School in Pleasant Hill.

Her family lives in Martinez and her parents wore t-shirts to the vigil that said "trust"... "together we build," with a police badge.

In honor of Officer O'Sullivan, blue bows have been tied around Sac State - a temporary reminder of her presence on campus.
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More permanently, the university has set up a scholarship in her name for the Law Enforcement Candidate Scholars' Program, cementing her legacy at the school.

You can make a donation to Officer O'Sullivan's memorial fund here.



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