Candlelight vigil set for slain Riverside police officer

A candlelight vigil is being held at 6 tonight for slain Riverside police officer Ryan Bonaminio. The 27-year-old officer was shot and killed Sunday after an apparent struggle with a suspect now identified as 44-year-old Earl Green. Green was arrested Tuesday and booked on suspicion of murder.

The vigil is being held on Veteran’s Day in honor of Bonaminio’s service to his city and his country. He joined the U.S. Army shortly after graduating from Ramona High School in Riverside 10 years ago. When he joined the Riverside police department four years ago, Bonaminio was already a decorated war veteran.

“He served two tours of duty in Iraq as a member of the US Army,” said Riverside Police chief Sergio Diaz.

“I think we can all ponder the irony that a person who was engaged on the battlefield half a world away, came back to his hometown to give his life in service of our citizens.”

The day after the murder, a makeshift memorial formed near the entrance of Fairmount Park in Riverside where Bonaminio was gunned down.

People stop by to light candles or leave flowers, American flags and other trinkets. Some people stay for a minute or two. Others stay a lot longer. They pray, they cry. There’s a large sheet of baby-blue cardboard and a picture of Bonaminio in uniform attached to a telephone pole.

People write messages in the space that’s left. One reads: “To our fallen brother, the one who took me on my first ride along & kept me safe. We love you.” Vanessa Hardin left that message.

“I was a cadet prior to being a dispatcher and he took me on my first ride-along and he kept me safe that day and, tried to teach me what it’s all about. He always had a huge smile on his face,” said Hardin.

She’s the last person Bonaminio spoke to before he was shot, possibly the last friendly voice he heard before he died. Bonaminio was working solo that night. Hardin dispatched him to pursue a suspected hit-and-run driver.

“And shortly after that he yelled out ‘foot pursuit’, and then I tried to confirm if this was the suspect from the hit-and-run, and he wouldn’t answer me,” said Hardin recounting the night’s events.

“And it made me extremely nervous. I put out to all the units where his car was. Shortly after the first unit arrived on scene and told us an officer was down. And, he wasn’t alone very long by himself here, before the first unit arrived. So that gives us a little more comfort,” said Hardin.

“It’s a hard thing for the dispatchers to hear because we’re always thinking the worst possible thing has happened before they tell us. Unfortunately, this time it was true.”

Police lieutenant Chuck Griffits was also on duty that night. Bonaminio was in his unit.

“I mean it was a boring night, nothin’ going on until this thing happened. And it’s something you don’t ever wanna go through, as an officer, a dispatcher, a sergeant,” said Griffits.

“He’s what we call a ‘baby policeman’; 27-years-old just barely on the job. He’s got a long promising career ahead of him and this guy snuffs it out. And it not only affects Ryan, it affects his family. It destroys a lot of lives,’’ said Griffits. The veteran officer is taking it hard. So are other cops, especially the young ones.

"There may be officers that don’t come back to work as a result of this,” said Griffits. “And we just ask for all the prayers for the department and for the family, especially for his mom and dad. They gotta make sense of why their little boy is being buried on Tuesday.”

The funeral for Bonaminio is next Tuesday at Grove Community Church in Riverside. He’ll then be laid to rest at Riverside National Cemetery with full military honors.