The city of Walnut lowered flags to half-staff at all of its facilities today in memory of Walnut High School alum Monica Quan. The flags will remain at half-mast until Quan's funeral services, city officials said in a press release.
Quan, 28, and her fiancé, 27-year-old Keith Lawrence, were fatally shot Sunday in the parking lot of their apartment building in Irvine. On Wednesday, Irvine Police Chief David Maggard announced that investigators have a suspect in the case, 33-year-old former LAPD officer Christopher Jordan Dorner.
A statewide manhunt is underway for Dorner, who also is suspected of killing a Riverside Police officer today and injuring another. Dorner also is wanted for his alleged involvement in a shootout in Corona in which an LAPD officer was grazed. The officer's partner was not injured.
The Walnut City Council expressed its condolences to the Quan family. Mayor Mary Su said that city staff sent flowers to the Quan family and she also personally sent a message.
“In this sad time, we need to remember the great person Monica was and her great accomplishments,” she said. “Our condolences go out to the Quan family. Monica will be missed and always remembered as part of our community.”
Mayor Pro Tem Tom King suggested that the city lower the flags. King, a retired LAPD detective, worked with Quan’s father Randy Quan, who also retired from the department.
Randy Quan reportedly represented Dorner during a
“Randy worked for me at LAPD and was a strong advocate for fairness and justice,” King said in an email. “Always a professional, I cannot imagine the grief that he and Sylvia feel. As long as I can remember they were cheering Monica as shemade a name for herself at Walnut Ranch Park playing in AYSO and at Walnut High as a star athlete.”
Monica Quan was an assistant coach for the Cal State Fullerton women's basketball team, and before that was an assistant coach at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.
She was in her second season working under Coach Marcia Foster. A star athlete at Walnut High School, Quan played basketball at Cal State Long Beach from 2003-05 before transferring to Concordia University, where she graduated in 2007 with a degree in exercise and sports science. In 2009, she earned a master's degree.
For additional information about the city honoring Quan, call Public Information Officer, Fabiola Huerta at 909-595-7543. For information about the City of Walnut, please visit our web site at www.ci.walnut.ca.us.
--City News Service contributed to this report.
