07-05-2025
Dallas police honor 2 officers killed in the line of duty this year
The Brief
Sadly, two names were added to the Dallas Police Memorial this year.
Officer Darron Burks was shot execution style while sitting in his squad car on Aug. 29, 20024.
Officer Gabriel Bixby died on Jan. 7, 2025 in a crash on his motorcycle on the way to work.
DALLAS - The Dallas Police Department added two new names to its police memorial in honor of the two officers who died in the line of duty over the past year.
Officer Darron Burks
Rookie Officer Darron Burks was shot while sitting in his squad car in Oak Cliff on Aug. 29, 20024.
The suspect, 30-year-old Corey Cobb-Bey, walked up to Burks' car while recording him with his phone. Police say Cobb-Bey then pulled out a gun and "executed" Burks.
Cobb-Bey then shot two and injured other officers who responded to the shooting. He was fatally shot by several officers after police said he pointed a gun at them.
Officer Gabriel Bixby
Officer Gabriel Bixby
Officer Gabriel Bixby was killed on Jan. 7, 2025 in a crash on his motorcycle on the way to work.
According to state troopers, he was on State Highway 276 in Hunt County and collided with the driver of a Honda Accord that turned in front of him.
The 29-year-old officer had been with the department for nearly seven years and left behind a wife and children.
Fallen Officers Remembered
The two officers were remembered on Tuesday as their names were added to the Dallas Police Memorial.
They are the 94th and 95th Dallas police officers to die in the line of duty.
"Officer Burks embodied the best of what Dallas has to offer," said Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson. "Officer Bixby served our city for seven years with honor and distinction. He was a loving husband and father."
Sherie Jeffery, Officer Burks' mother, called Tuesday's service very meaningful.
"That let me know they really care about their officers," she said.
Jeffery said her son wanted to be a police officer to help others. After teaching high school math for 19 years, he quit his job to join the force.
"I often asked him. Do you know what you are doing? He said, 'I know exactly what I'm doing. This is what I want to do. This is what I chose to do.' I am so proud of him," his mother said.
While this was Jeffery's first memorial service, other fallen officers' family members have been attending for decades.
"My former husband, his name was Richard Lawrence, and he was killed in '93," said Frances Lawrence. "As long as I live here, that's what I will do."
The police department said the hope is that when family members gather again next May, there will be no new names to add to the roll of honor.
The Source
The information in this story comes from the Dallas Police Department and Tuesday's Dallas Police Memorial.
