Fallen Cops' Names Added to Somber Roll Call in DC

(April 27) -- Whether the year is 1792 or 2009, the tragic story is the same. Someone creates a disturbance. A police officer responds. A bullet fells the officer and leaves a trail of grief.

Today the names of three Pittsburgh officers -- Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo II -- were etched on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, a somber roll call of more than 18,600 officers killed in the line of duty.

The Pittsburgh police represent the most recently fallen. The oldest name on the memorial is Isaac Smith, a New York City deputy sheriff killed in 1792 while serving a warrant on someone wanted for disturbing the peace.

The April 4, 2009, disturbance that set off the Pittsburgh Police Department's largest single-day loss began with, of all things, a dog. According to a criminal complaint against Richard Poplawski, his mother, Margaret, confronted him after his dog urinated on the floor; she then called 911 and asked officers to take her son away.

Poplawski, who reportedly was worried about having his guns confiscated, had other ideas. Clad in a bulletproof vest and armed with an AK-47 and other firearms, he allegedly shot Mayhle and Sciullo in the head as they entered the house.

Kelly was driving home from the night shift when he heard the domestic-dispute call and decided to assist. He too was gunned down, as he got out of his car, authorities say. He radioed in for help but later died at the hospital.

Poplawski held a SWAT team and other officers at bay for about four hours before surrendering, and is now charged with three counts of murder and numerous other crimes, authorities say.

Today, Pittsburgh police and law enforcement officials from around the country turned their attention to remembering the three officers and others killed in the line of duty.

"It was so breathtaking -- the fact there were so many names on the wall," said Diane Richard, spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh police.

Mayhle's daughters were 3 and 6 when he died. Kelly's were 11, 16 and 22. The children and their mothers, along with Sciullo's parents, all attended the ceremony, where the names were etched into the smooth stone like permanent scars.

"It was very emotional for all of them," Richard said, as she drove some of the family members home in a police caravan of 35 officers and relatives. "They were very moved ... to know that wall will forever be part of their lives and our lives as Pittsburgh police officers."

The Pittsburgh officers were among 10 whose names were added to the wall today, but the names of all 116 officers killed last year and others who were killed earlier are also being added to the memorial and will be honored in a candlelight vigil May 13.

"It's important that our nation recognizes and remembers those law enforcement officers that gave their own lives for the safety and protection of others," said Kevin Morison, spokesman for the memorial group. "We've 900,000 local, state and federal law enforcement officers in this country. Every day they get up and put on their uniforms and pin on their badges and go out and really put other people's safety ahead of their own.

"Tragically, far too many of them are killed in the process each year."