SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A police officer had been doing a job he loved for just over a year in his hometown of Ogden, Utah, when he was shot and killed during a domestic violence call, his fellow officers said Friday.
Nathan Lyday, 24, was born in Ogden, went to school there and worked at a grocery store before graduating from college and becoming an officer 15 months ago, the Deseret News reported.
“He was very prideful to be a police officer. This is a great city. He loved the citizens of the city,” said Ogden Police Lt. Brian Eynon. “He’s a hero.”
Lyday was about to celebrate his fifth wedding anniversary with his wife Ashley, said an emotional Ogden Police Chief Randy Watt. Lyday’s patrol car stood as a memorial Friday, surrounded by bouquets of flowers people dropped off. The word “love” was written in chalk in font of the car.
Lyday was a second-generation police officer; his father worked for the Davis County Sheriff’s Office. His brother is a code enforcement officer in Ogden.
Lyday was killed Thursday, responding to a house where a woman had called 911 reporting her husband had threatened to kill her.
He and an Adult Probation and Parole officer who stopped to help found John Benedict Coleman, 53, on his porch, police said. Coleman went inside his home and slammed the door. As officers approached, he began firing a through the door, striking Lyday. The Adult Probation and Parole agent was also injured.
Coleman was killed when officers returned fire. Lyday died at a hospital.
Children were found safe in the home after the gunfire ended.
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