Beneath gray, overcast skies, Palm Bay police and city officials gathered to remember one of the darkest days in the city’s history.
It was 39 years ago, on April 23, 1987 that two Palm Bay police officers — Ronald Grogan, 27, and 28-year-old Gerald Johnson — were gunned down during a mass shooting that also claimed four other lives, Nobil Al-Hameli, 25, Enud Al-Tawakuly, 18, Ruth Greene, 67 and Lester Watson, 52.
“Sacrifice Park is more than a place … It’s a promise that we will never forget, and that we will always continue the mission,” Police Chief Jeff Spears said Thursday, April 23, during a somber ceremony at the park, not far from police headquarters and the City Hall complex.
“A promise that the names Ronald Grogan and Gerald Johnson will always be mentioned, honored and most importantly, remembered,” Spears said in the statement, later posted to the police department’s Facebook page.
The annual commemoration at the park honors fallen first responders. Among those in attendance were retired officers and city leaders. This was the first commemoration service led by newly sworn in Chief Spears, a lifelong Palm Bay resident who joined the police department in 2010.
The 1987 shooting spree began as William Bryan Cruse, a 59-year-old retired librarian, went on a rampage, fatally shooting officers Grogan and Johnson, along with the four civilians. Cruse wounded another 14 people during the mass shooting.
Palm Bay police officers, along with members of the SWAT team who arrived in pickup trucks, responded to the site as shoppers and bystanders were evacuated. Cruse was taken into custody hours later and was convicted in 2009. He was sentenced to death in 1989. He died of natural causes in 2009 at age 89 while still on death row.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Remembering: Palm Bay honors officers killed in 1987 mass shooting
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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