Officer Randy Simmons was shot and killed as he and other members of the Los Angeles SWAT Team made entry into a home. The team had been deployed to the home after a suspect inside called 911 and claimed to have murdered three family members.

As the team entered, the suspect opened fire, striking Officer Simmons and a second officer. Both officers were immediately transported to a hospital, where Officer Simmons died approximately 30 minutes later.

Officer Simmons had served with the Los Angeles Police Department for 27 years.

Simmons, a married father of a teenage son and daughter, spent his off-hours mentoring youth in South Los Angeles. He was passionate he was about his work and the community where he had been a gang officer for years.

Originally from New York, he was a football player at Washington State University and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. An injury shortened his pro football career and he ended up in the LAPD police academy, and then as a patrol officer, starting in 1981. He worked Pacific Division, gang units in South Los Angeles, and then SWAT.

Officer Simmons is survived by his wife, two children, parents, and three sisters.