Police killings are considered rare in New Zealand, with today's death just the ninth time in the past 30 years that officers have died at the hands of criminals.
Those lost in the line of duty are forever immortalised in police culture, with their memory honoured by those who serve in blue.
Regarded as a "true hero," there's Sergeant Stewart Guthrie, who was shot while trying to apprehend a gunman on a killing spree at Aramoana near Dunedin in 1990.
Before today, he was one of only eight police officers to die from criminal acts since 1990, with each one having bravely worked in situations of extreme violence.
Senior Constable Peter Morris Umbers was bashed with his own baton when stopping a robbery suspect in 1990, followed by Constable Glenn McKibbin who died as a result of a drive-by shooting in 1996.
There's Waikato Constable Lester Murray Strech who was beaten to death in 1999 after attending reports of a burgulary in Mangakino.
Detective Constable Duncan Taylor was shot outside a house in Manawatu after a police pursuit in 2002, as each death ripped the policing community apart.
Porirua's Sergeant Derek Wooton, remembered as a loving father figure, was run down by a mobster in 2008.
That same year Sergeant Don Wilkinson was given a hero's farewell after being shot while undercover in Mangere, Auckland.
The most recent death before today was during the Napier siege in 2009, where Senior Constable Len Snee was killed during a 40 hour standoff.
Sadly, scenes of remeberance will soon play out again as another officer is immortalised for all days to come.
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