Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MONTEBELLO - Fellow officers are mourning the sudden death of officer Kenneth Utsinger who was found in the police station locker room Sunday. Utsinger, 41, was found with a gunshot wound. He was believed to be alone at the time and investigators are attempting to determine if the gunfire was accidental or suicide, according to ABC7 Eyewitness News. Utsinger was sworn as a Montebello officer January 23, 2019, having spent 11 years in Lawton, Oklahoma as a correctional officer, according to Montebello Police Chief Brad Keller.
Utsinger moved to California in 2017 with his wife and two rescue dogs to be closer to his wife’s sister. “At his command oral, Kenneth said his lifelong dream was to be a police officer and after working in corrections for 11 years he was looking forward to being on the streets; if, as he put it, he could make it through the academy; since he was a ‘little older’ than most. He was 40 in the academy and turned 41 just a few weeks ago,” Keller said. His peers at the Rio Hondo Police Academy voted him as the most inspirational recruit, Keller said. “We can never prepare for losing someone so unexpectedly and we can certainly never understand why someone with so much potential and passion for public service would leave us too soon,” Keller said. “We can ask why, only to never really ever get a true answer, since the person who holds that answer is no longer with us.” Utsinger, an Alaska native, is survived by his wife Heather and sister-in-law Amanda. |
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