Ricardo Lizarraga

Ricardo Lizarraga (c. 1974 — 2004-02-20) was a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer who was killed in the line of duty. He was the first LAPD officer to be murdered since 1988. He had been with the LAPD for two-and-a-half years.

Lizarraga was shot twice in the abdomen below his bulletproof vest, when he attempted to search a domestic violence suspect. The suspect fled, and Lizarraga died at 3:00 p.m. on February 20, 2004 after undergoing surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His killer, Kendrick William Johnson, was arrested about three-and-a-half hours later, after a manhunt involving hundreds of LAPD officers and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies, including SWAT teams, dogs, and helicopters.

Johnson was charged with capital murder, murder of a police officer, murder to avoid arrest, possession of a firearm by a felon, and the attempted murder of Lizarraga's partner, Officer Joel Ruiz. Hours after his arraignment on February 24, 2004, Johnson was found hanging from the bars of his prison cell at 9:00 p.m., and died hours later.

Lizarraga's funeral was held on February 26, 2004 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, CA.

In 2006, the Los Angeles Unified School District decided to name a new elementary school after Lizarraga. The Ricardo Lizzaraga Elementary School is located at 401 E. 40th Place, Los Angeles.

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