The second officer police say was shot by Christopher Dorner in Riverside has been identified as a West Covina native, a man who has now witnessed his partners shot two times in the last five months.
Officer Andrew Tachias, 27, was shot multiple times on the morning of Feb. 7 while he sat at a stoplight with his partner and training officer, Michael Crain, who suffered fatal wounds, according to police reports.
Tachias survived the "cowardly ambush" (as dubbed by Chief Sergio Diaz)- allegedly committed by notorious ex-LAPD police officer Chris Dorner- but remains hospitalized, according to the Riverside Police Department.
"Officer Tachias is in stable condition at a local hospital recovering from his injuries," RPD Lt. Guy Toussaint said Thursday, a week after the shooting took place.
Officer Tachias had only been with the Riverside Police Department since December, after transferring to the force from Inglewood, according to Toussaint.
In September 2012, while working for the Inglewood Police Department, Tachias and his partner Officer Benjamin Sanza were shot at during a traffic stop near Crenshaw Boulevard by a person(s) who had stolen the vehicle in a carjacking out of Long Beach, according to a press release from Inglewood PD.
During that incident, as well as the incident in Riverside last week, none of the officers had time to return fire, according to police statements. However, during the Inglewood shooting, Tachias' partner was only hit once, and survived, police said.
Prior to becoming a police officer, Tachias attended the University of California, Riverside, where he served as a community service officer. In September, 2009 he was hired by Inglewood PD, and attended the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Academy, graduating in 2010, according to Toussaint.
He was born in West Covina in 1985.
Tachias' field training officer for the Riverside Police Department, Officer Michael Crain was buried Wednesday following a service attended by an estimated 8,000 people, the majority of which were fellow law enforcement personnel.
Christopher Dorner is also suspected of shooting a Walnut High grad and her fiance in an Irvine parking structure on Super Bowl Sunday.
Authorities say Dorner's killing spree began on Feb. 3, when the former Navy Reserve lieutenant allegedly gunned down the daughter and future son-in- law of an ex-police captain who represented him at a hearing that resulted in his dismissal from the LAPD.
The bodies of 28-year-old Cal State Fullerton assistant women's basketball coach Monica Quan and her fiance, 27-year-old USC public safety Officer Keith Lawrence, were found in Lawrence's car in the parking structure of their Irvine condominium building.
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