Officer Who Survived 2017 Las Vegas Mass Shooting Dies in Crash, Leaving Behind Wife and 3 Kids

A California police officer who was wounded within the 2017 Las Vegas music competition mass capturing died after a automobile struck his police bike, authorities mentioned. 

The crash occurred on Monday round 5:14 a.m. on Interstate 405 and killed Manhattan Seaside Police Division Motorbike Officer Chad Swanson, the California Freeway Patrol mentioned in a launch obtained by PEOPLE.

The company mentioned Swanson was probably headed to work on the northbound 405 Freeway close to the Del Amo Boulevard on the sting of Carson when the multi-vehicle crash unfolded, The Each day Breeze and CW affiliate KTLA-TV reported.

A driver of 1 automobile apparently hit one other automobile and that automobile appeared to lose management and crash into Swanson, in line with the The Each day Breeze.

“It appears like a car might have been touring at an unsafe pace and presumably carried out an unsafe lane change,” CHP Lt. Steve Carapia mentioned, per KTLA-TV. “Sadly, the officer was struck and ejected off of his motorcycle.” 

The Manhattan Seaside Police Division mentioned Swanson, a 13-year veteran of the pressure, was married and had three younger sons, 4, 2 and 10 months.

Swanson was transported to a hospital, the place he was pronounced lifeless, in line with the California Freeway Patrol. A second individual was hospitalized with minor accidents.

All the drivers stayed on the scene, Carapia added, per The Each day Breeze. No arrests have been made at the moment, and an investigation is ongoing, per CHP.

The Manhattan Seaside Police Division remembered Swanson as having a “robust sense of responsibility, professionalism, and a real want to make the group safer.”

“He was not solely a colleague, but additionally a buddy to many, and his absence can be deeply felt,” they added.

The officer was additionally hailed as a hero for getting individuals to security after a gunman opened fireplace from a window of the Mandalay Bay resort in the course of the Route 91 Music Pageant, Manhattan Seaside Police Lieutenant Kelly Benjamin mentioned, per The Each day Breeze.

Based on the paper, Swanson was struck within the arm by a fraction of a bullet that hit the bottom in the course of the capturing, then ran backwards and forwards to assist victims and apply tourniquets. He mentioned on the time that he “simply wished to attempt to assist as many individuals” as he might.

The mass capturing claimed 58 harmless lives, with an extra sufferer dying two years after the assault.

Manhattan Seaside Police Chief Rachel Johnson mentioned in a press release that “the beloved officer exemplified braveness, and his affect reached far past the precinct, touching the lives of those that had the privilege of working alongside him.”

In the meantime, a fundraiser asking to assist Swanson’s household “via this devastating time and the longer term” has raised over $63,000 as of Thursday morning.