Phoenix Police Officer, Fire Fighter killed on duty

The city of Phoenix lost a pair of public safety officers this weekend. Twenty-nine-year-old police officer Daryl Raetz was hit and killed early Sunday morning by a hit and run driver as he processed a DUI scene.

“Maybe half of the Phoenix fire department, the men and women of our department are hurting,” Police Chief Daniel Garcia said. “We ask for our community’s support in recognizing our officer’s loss, this city’s loss.”

Garcia says officers have located the SUV driven by the person who hit Raetz but have not yet made an arrest. The officer's death came on the heels of the loss of a fire fighter, Saturday night.  Twenty-three-year-old Bradley Harper died while battling a mulch fire when he became pinned between two pieces of firefighting equipment.

“It is absolutely humbling to know that there’s over 500 fire fighters right now and over a thousand police officers that, when the lights go one and the radio tones go off, are willing to risk their lives for complete strangers, and they do it every day,” said Phoenix Fire Chief Bob Kahn.

Harper had been a firefighter for two years.