Family, Officials Identify 3 Dallas Officers Killed in Sniper Attack

Dallas, TX — A young father, a newlywed, and a man passionate about helping others were among three of five Dallas law enforcement officials killed in the deadly sniper attack during a mostly peaceful protest Thursday over recent police killings of black men.

Brent Thompson, 43, a Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer, was the first to be identified as one of the fallen officers. He had experience training police overseas and was recently married to a fellow DART officer and was said to be in "great spirits" after his marriage.

He joined the force in 2009 and before that had worked for DynCorp, a private security company based in Virginia. While he was with DynCorp, he led an eight-man “saturation” training team to teach Afghan police military skills. He had also trained police in Iraq for the same purpose.

He was a father and a grandfather.

DART Police Chief James Spiller told MSNBC Thompson served admirably during his time with the department.

Gary Thomas, DART's president/executive director told CNN New Day, Thompson was dedicated to the safety of Americans all over the world.

He is the first DART officer to be killed in the line of duty since the department was formed in 1989.

"As you can imagine, our hearts are broken. This is something that touches every part of our organization. We have received countless expressions of support and sympathy from around the world through the evening. We are grateful for every message. Thank you," DART said in a statement.

Three other DART police officers shot during the protest are expected to recover.

Michael Krol, 40, a former Wayne County, Michigan Sheriff's Deputy, was also identified as one of the slain officers who moved to Dallas from Michigan to chase his life-long dream of becoming a police officer.

He had worked as an officer for the Wayne County Sheriff's Office from 2003 to 2007 and was assigned to the county jail corrections staff. His uncle Jim Ehlke told a local TV station Krol had "a passion for helping people" and he worked hard to find his current job in Dallas.

"He spent some time at the correctional facility. It wasn’t quite what he was looking for, so he worked pretty hard to find a job and got one in Dallas. He was all in, he was all in," Ehlke said.

“We are saddened by the loss of the dedicated officers in Dallas — one of whom was a former member of this agency — and also the wounding of the other officers,” Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon said in a statement.

A third officer killed in the attack was identified by family members as 32-year-old Patrick Zamarripa, a family man who loved being an American.

"Addicted to the thrill of this job," his Twitter bio read.

He wrote that he loved Texas, his country, his family and friends, God and sports. He was an avid Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys fan.

"Happy Birthday to the greatest country on the face of this planet. My beloved America," a Twitter post on the Fourth of July read.

His father, Rick Zamarippa, told the Washington Post his son had survived three tours in Iraq. He was married and had a 2-year-old daughter.

"He just liked to help people," his father told the Post.

He joined the Dallas Police Department after leaving the military police about five years ago.

Baseball player Joey Gallo shared a story of a chance encounter he once had with Zamarripa.

Two other officers killed in the shooting have not yet been publicly identified.

Five law enforcement officers were shot dead and seven others were wounded Thursday during the attack.

A gunman was killed by police after an hours long standoff.

Image via Dallas PD