Annual ceremony to honor law enforcement officers Thursday

In celebration of National Police Week, 128 Nevada peace officers killed in the line of duty will be honored at the 18th Annual Nevada Law Enforcement Officers Memorial ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Thursday on the Capitol grounds.

A memorial was dedicated on the Capitol grounds in 1998 to recognize the sacrifice officers made in service to their communities.

The first officer killed in the line of duty was Carson County Nevada Territory Sheriff John L. Blackburn, who was killed in 1861 while making an arrest. The last two officers killed in the line of duty were officers Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Both men were shot execution style at a Las Vegas pizza restaurant on June 8 of last year. The alleged shooters, a male and a female, took the officers’ weapons and ammunition and ran to a nearby Walmart, where they shot and killed a civilian. Responding officers followed the two into the Walmart and exchanged gunfire. The male subject was killed by rifle fire from a responding officer, and the female committed suicide.

Beck and Soldo will be specially honored in Wednesday’s ceremony.

The service will begin with the presentation of colors by the combined Nevada Law Enforcement Honor Guard and the delivery of a runner’s memorial baton, which is relayed by Nevada peace officers from Las Vegas to Carson City. The annual Law Enforcement Memorial Run started April 30; one leg of the run is completed in the memory of each officer listed on the memorial.