Just after midnight Tuesday in Cour D’Alene Idaho, Sgt. Greg Moore became an officer down. A criminal shot him and stole his car before being caught by a police dog after a 3 hour man hunt. Sgt. Moore left behind a wife and two children. AP News reports that:

The officer was shot about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday after checking on a suspicious person in a neighborhood, Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White said.

“He was out doing routine random patrols in an area that we have experienced some auto burglaries in. So he was doing what we do. It’s just incredibly tragic,” city police spokeswoman Sgt. Christie Wood told KREM-TV of Spokane.

Just doing what they do. Sgt Moore was a 16 year veteran. He died after a suspect shot him and stole his patrol car.

“From the information I’ve received so far, it doesn’t look like an ambush-style attack,” the chief said. “This was just a bad guy doing bad guy stuff and our officers doing what they were trained to do – and that’s trying to keep our communities safe.”

There is a legitimate discussion about what keeping our communities safe means. But this is what officers do all over the country: put themselves at risk to keep us safe all hours of the day and night. There are bad cops for sure but there are also bad people out there doing bad things. Finding the balance is what is needed, not a bunch of sound bites and exaggerations. Prayers for the Moores and Cour D’Alene. And rest in peace Sgt. Moore.