SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Getting the phone call that your loved one has been shot is not one that’s easy to take in. And even in the years to come, hearing news of other officer-involved shootings – like Saturday’s – is tough.
If anybody knows what it’s like to have officers as family, it’s Jenny Brotherson.
“My other son’s a police officer, I wanted to make sure he’s okay,” Brotherson says.
Her other son, Cody Brotherson, was an officer too.
“Cody always said, I wanna make a difference,” she explains.
Saturday, two deputies were shot in the eye and face.
“My very first thought was, I hope it’s not anybody we know. And in the same breathe, I hope it’s not anybody we don’t know,” she describes.
Learning of news like this, it takes Brotherson back to the day nearly five years ago.
“It’s amazing how quickly your heart sinks again because you’re automatically taken back to that moment,” she tells ABC4.
She recounts the day she learned the news that her 25-year-old son was killed in the line of duty after being struck by a fleeing suspect’s vehicle.
“There’s not one day where Cody is not my first thought or my last thought,” Brotherson says. “And it destroys a piece of what you are as a human being.”
Brotherson reminds all of us that those who wear the badge put their lives at risk every day.
“In a climate where there’s not a lot of support for them,” says Brotherson.
Still, in that climate, she says most officers are people who want to make a difference, just like her son, Cody.
“Officers survive, but these could be with life-changing injuries,” Brotherson said. ”I’m sure this has deeply affected their co-workers as well. you see one of your comrades go down, and it’s incredibly hard to deal with.
The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office says two officer-involved shootings have already happened this year.
