The Los Angeles Police Department officer who died in the Chatsworth train collision was identified by the LAPD as Spree Desha, a seven-year veteran who worked in the Office of Operations. She was off-duty at the time of the crash. Desha, 35, has previously worked in the North Hollywood division. When her body was removed from the wreckage about 10:20 pm, dozen of officers from the LAPD and other agencies saluted her flag-draped body and observed a long moment of silence.

At the same briefing where the officer's name was released, Sheriff Lee Baca said that sheriff's deputy John Ebert was seriously injured on the train and is hospitalized in intensive care in Simi Valley.

"This is a human tragedy that is beyond words. A horrific night this evening," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at the 11 pm briefing. He said that the number of confirmed deaths remains at ten and the number of injured is 135. The number of fatalities is expected to grow as recovery efforts continue, Villaraigosa said, but he cautioned that the firefighters on scene remain in rescue mode. "I couldn't be prouder of the first responders tonight," Villaraigosa said.

* 12:25 am update: "Officer Desha will be missed by all of us and especially by her colleagues in the Office of Operations," said Tim Sands, president of the Police Protective League, in a statement.

Earlier tonight: First news round-up, second news round-up, media scan, LAPD officer among the dead.

© 2003-2009   •  About LA Observed  •  Email the editor
LA Biz Observed
4:03 PM Fri | CBS and ABC have far bigger fish to fry - namely whether their stations can get back the auto and retail advertising that fell off a cliff in 2009.
Native Intelligence
Jenny Price | Recycling!
Veronique de Turenne | And there's still time to take part!
Phil Wallace | Searching for answers after a third loss this year.
Deanne Stillman | Jihad and cash offers meet American soldiers during the Gulf War, and beyond.
Iris Schneider | After a tough year financially, the Museum of Contemporary Art put on a gala party to celebrate with 1,000 of its closest friends.
Jenny Burman
Thinking more about buying less.
Here in Malibu
Seriously -- turn out the lights.
Sponsors
Jewish Journal logo
The California Wellness Foundation
Playa Vista ad
Blogads

Blogads Los Angeles network

Get RSS Feeds
of LA Observed
LA Observed publishes several Real Simple Syndication feeds for easy scanning of headlines. If you wish to subscribe to a feed, most popular RSS readers will do it for you. You can also enter the web address from the XML button below or click on a specific feed. For more help with RSS, try here or here.




Add to Google