A Manhattan Seashore police officer who survived the 2017 Las Vegas music pageant mass taking pictures died Wednesday, Oct. 4, when a automobile collided along with his police bike, throwing him to the bottom, officers mentioned.
On 10-4-23, at about 5:15am, Manhattan Seashore Police Division Bike Officer Chad Swanson was concerned in a deadly on obligation site visitors collision on the 405 Freeway. pic.twitter.com/C3eZjNojHI
— Manhattan Seashore PD (@manhattanbchpd) October 4, 2023
Officer Chad Swanson, 35, was doubtless nonetheless headed in to work when the driving force of 1 automobile apparently hit one other on the northbound 405 Freeway on the sting of Carson close to Del Amo Boulevard at round 5:15 a.m., in keeping with the California Freeway Patrol. The second driver appeared to lose management and careened into Swanson.
Manhattan Seashore police Lt. Kelly Benjamin mentioned Swanson was married with three sons.
“We’re hurting, we’re grieving,” Benjamin mentioned.
https://t.co/Is0QhERz6d
— Manhattan Seashore PD (@manhattanbchpd) October 4, 2023
CHP Officer Steve Carapia informed reporters on the crash scene {that a} fourth car might have been concerned within the crash, however it wasn’t clear how.
Carapia mentioned the primary automobile is believed to have triggered the collision when the doubtless dashing driver made “an unsafe lane change.”
“We nonetheless haven’t decided which car hit who,” Carapia mentioned. “We don’t wish to rush this, we’re being very methodical.”
All the drivers stayed on the scene, Carapia mentioned. There was no data Wednesday about any arrests associated to the crash.
First responders carried out life-saving measures on Swanson, stabilizing him earlier than he was taken to a hospital, the place he died. A second individual was hospitalized with minor accidents.
Exterior the Manhattan Seashore police headquarters later Wednesday, Chief Rachel Johnson mentioned Swanson labored for the town for 13 years. Johnson mentioned he grew to become a bike officer in 2017. He beforehand labored as a civilian parking enforcement worker on the Hawthorne Police Division, Johnson mentioned.
She mentioned Swanson beloved his household dearly.
Johnson described him as an individual who would deliver pleasure to different arounds him, calling the fallen officer “a critically good dude.”
“To know Chad was to like him,” Johnson mentioned. “In the event you weren’t laughing when he was within the room, you merely weren’t listening.”
The chief mentioned of Swanson that “it was clear to anybody who knew him how a lot he beloved being a dad.”
Earlier that day, Benjamin, the division spokeswoman, recalled that Swanson was within the crowd on the Route 91 Harvest Music Pageant in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017 when a gunman opened fireplace from a broken-out window of the previous Mandalay Bay resort overlooking the positioning.
Benjamin mentioned Swanson helped get taking pictures victims and others out of the world.
Rachael Parker, a Manhattan Seashore police information technician, was killed within the taking pictures. The assault additionally took the lifetime of one other beloved member of the Manhattan Seashore group. Sandy Casey, 35, was a particular training trainer at Manhattan Seashore Center College.
Swanson in 2017 described a scene of whizzing bullets and chaos unfolding in Las Vegas in a wide-open venue the place there was no place to take cowl. He was struck within the arm by a fraction of a bullet that hit the bottom, and went forwards and backwards carrying folks to security and making use of tourniquets.
“I simply wished to attempt to assist as many individuals as I might,” Swanson mentioned on the time. “At a sure level, we realized that there have been no extra folks within the live performance venue that have been alive that we might assist. We canvassed the entire space to ensure we didn’t miss anyone.”
Manhattan Seashore Mayor Richard Montgomery mentioned Wednesday was “a tragic and emotional day for all of us right here” following the information of Swanson’s loss of life.
Noon, a procession of dozens of police cruisers and bikes escorted Swanson’s physique to the coroner’s workplace. Los Angeles space firefighters saluted from freeway overpasses because the procession travelled beneath.
Metropolis Information Service contributed to this story.
