Pray for Your Police

“Pray for your police” is how my newsletters end. There’s a reason for that; the following story is one reason why.

At 10:04 pm on Thursday, August 29, 2024, Dallas Police Officer Darron Burks pulled into a parking lot in between calls and parked his patrol vehicle. Likely he was going to catch up on his reports, make a call, or simply take a break. Thirty-year-old Corey Cobb-Bey had parked in the same lot moments before. Two minutes after the officer parked, Cobb-Bey approached Officer Burks and engaged in a conversation with him. Cobb-Bey videoed the conversation with his cell phone (this is a common practice for people wanting to bait officers into a verbal confrontation and then complain about the officer to internal affairs).

But rather than lure Officer Burks into a verbal argument, Cobb-Bey suddenly pulled out a handgun and shot Officer Burks as he sat in his patrol vehicle. There was an unusual transmission from Burks’ radio. The dispatcher attempted to contact the officer, but he didn’t respond. Officer Burks was located via GPS location and officers were dispatched to check on him. 

While officers were en route, Cobb-Bey retrieved a shotgun from his car, went back to Burks’ vehicle, and placed the shotgun on the roof. At 10:11 pm, Officer Jamie Farmer pulled into the parking lot and Cobb-Bey shot at him with the handgun. Farmer returned fire and ran across the parking lot for cover, Cobb-Bey then shot at him with the shotgun and hit him in the leg. At 10:12 pm, Officer Karissa David arrived and parked her vehicle at the entrance to the parking lot. Cobb-Bey ran toward Officer David shooting as he approached. He hit her several times as the officer exited her vehicle. Officer David returned fire and was hit in the face. As more officers arrived, the suspect jumped in his car and fled. Officers pursued. Cobb-Bey came to a stop on an expressway, got out and started to approach officers on foot, holding the shotgun. He approached the officers and pointed the shotgun at them. Six officers shot. Cobb-Bey was hit multiple times and died at the scene. No other officers were shot.

Officer Burks died of his wounds; Officer David was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but is expected to survive, however she is blinded in both eyes. Officer Farmer was treated and released.[1]  Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said, “I do want to make something clear; I know that the word ambush has been thrown around… That is not what happened here. Officer Burks was executed.”[2]

Ambushed or executed, the word chosen doesn’t matter much. The fact is Officer Burks was murdered simply because he wore a badge. The badge represents the authority of the government agency for which officers work. The Bible tells us that “there is no authority except from God” (Romans 13:1). Ultimately, resisting legitimate human authority is resisting God himself. Pray for the family of Officer Burks and Officer David’s continued recovery. 

Looking back

This year brought three significant changes to the Strong Blue Line and how we serve the law enforcement officer (LEO) community. First, we changed to a nonprofit foundation. With this change we can now accept tax-exempt donations to fund our mission of making stronger officers with stronger relationships. Our goal is to receive sufficient support that will allow us to fully fund our second and third major changes. The second change is offering the LEO training seminars at no cost to the officers or their agencies. The third change is Sherry coming onboard to work fulltime with the SBLF. Please consider helping us complete our mission with a year-end financial donation or monthly support. 

In 2024, we had seminars in eight states from Idaho to Tennessee to Texas and places in between. We’re finally home for the year! Our last trip for the year was to Texas. We’ll spend a couple months at home and then head south after the first of the year for seminars in southern states.