by Rich Grassi Law enforcement officials made their way to Rapid City SD this weekend for the Sunday funeral of Rapid City Police Officer James R. McCandless, this according to KELO Television news. Sunday was also the day that his fellow officer, Nick Armstrong, succumbed to wounds suffered in the same gunfight last Tuesday. The criminal suspect is also deceased, according to KELO. Another officer, Tim Doyle, was injured in the shootout and, fitted with a breathing tube, he attended Sunday's funeral for Officer McCandless. A story from the Los Angeles Times says that early on Sunday, a Captain in the Marine Reserves, just home from an Afghanistan deployment, was on duty as a four-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department. As Officer Jeremy Henwood was stopped at a stop sign, a black Audi flashed its lights, apparently to get the officer's attention. According to witnesses, the Audi glided up alongside the patrol car, the passenger window opened and a shotgun was raised and fired, striking Officer Henwood. The Audi sped away as witnesses ran to the officer's aid - one rendering first aid and another reading the Audi's license plate into the officer's police radio. The offender, who'd just shot someone else, was found at his home and, according to the news, he went for his shotgun again. For the last time. Officer Henwood died from his injuries, suffered in what the Chief of Police called "an assassination." According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and their Preliminary 2011 Fatality Statistics, police deaths from "gunfire" stand at 49 as of August 8th, up some 32% from last year at this time. Eleven officers died from gunshot injuries in January alone. There have been three-multi-fatality incidents, with two in Florida and one in Virginia. If there was ever a time to be "paranoid," it's probably now. On Saturday, a long way from Rapid City and from San Diego, a U.S. helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan, killing all onboard, according to news reports quoting a "senior administration official." We lost 31 members of service and seven Afghan soldiers in the incident. The largest single incident fatality count of this war, now coming up on its tenth year, lets us know we're in danger there too. For those still on the job and in the service, use all the care, craft and cunning you have; it's rough out there. For those of us who depend on those valiant souls, give your thanks for the special kind it takes to do that job.