Ashley Guindon, a rookie cop from Virginia who had been sworn in on Friday, was killed and two others were wounded while responding to a report about a fatal domestic dispute, the Prince William County Police Department revealed late Saturday.
Guindon and the two other officers, Jesse Hempen, 31, an eight-year veteran of the force, and David McKeown, 33, a 10-year-veteran, had received a call about a domestic violence call in Woodbridge around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday evening, reported CBS News. The three had reportedly approached the front door and were soon confronted by the suspect, Army Staff Sgt. Ronald Hamilton, 32, who opened fire on them.
It's unclear how the situation played out from there, but it resulted in all three officers being shot and ending up needing to be airlifted to Fairfax INOVA Hospital to be treated for their injuries. It was there that Guinton succumbed to her injuries. The other two officers remained in serious condition but are expected to recover.
The death of any police officer is always a tragic moment, but Guindon's was particularly tragic since it was noted that she had been sworn in on Friday and was only an hour and a half into her first shift when she was gunned down, according to Fox's Charlotte affiliate WJZY-TV.
Issuing a statement about the shooting, Police Chief Stephan Hudson said at a news conference Sunday: "We were struck by her passion to do this job. She did share with us when we rehired her that she felt like she wanted to do this job. She couldn't get it out of her blood. She clearly had a passion to serve others in a way that went beyond herself."
In the meantime, Hamilton, an Army staff sergeant assigned to the Pentagon, is being held in the Prince William County Adult Detention Center on charges including first-degree murder for the death of his wife Crystal Hamilton, capital murder of a police officer, two counts of malicious wounding of a police officer and two counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony, according to Fox 5 D.C..
He is expected to be arraigned Monday morning.
