Public Memorial Service For Slain Davis Police Officer Planned

DAVIS, CA — As the community of Davis and beyond mourns the loss of city of Davis police Officer Natalie Corona, planning is underway for a memorial service to be held later this week. Corona, 22, was responding to a routine call of a traffic collision the evening of Thursday, Jan. 10 on 5th Street when she was fatally shot.

The rookie officer was rushed in serious condition to UC Davis Medical Center in nearby Sacramento but died that night of her injuries.

Her memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 18 at University of California, Davis in the ARC Pavilion, 760 Orchard Road.

Friday's service is open to the public, according to Davis police Officer Fiona Wais.

"The location can seat up to 8,000 and we expect it to have full attendance," Wais told Patch.

The service is expected to last about an hour. Memorial service information, such as a map about where to park, is posted on a city of Davis webpage set up in memory of the fallen officer.

• Watch Memorial Service For Fallen Davis PD Officer Natalie Corona

The promising young officer whose life was taken too soon was remembered, honored and celebrated in a candlelight vigil Saturday night attended en masse by Davis residents, elected officials, members of the law enforcement community and UC Davis students.

Described by Davis police Chief Darren Pytel as the department's "rising star," Corona started as a part-time community service office for the Davis Police Department in 2016 under a City Council-approved program through which her college tuition was paid. As part of the program, she went on to attend the police academy, which she completed in July.

She was sworn in Aug. 2 as a Davis police officer, then spent the next few months field training alongside her fellow officers.

In December, just a few weeks prior to the tragic events of Jan. 10, the department decided Corona was ready to begin her role as a full-time city of Davis police officer.

The gunman, identified by authorities over the weekend as 48-year-old Kevin Douglas Limbaugh, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following a standoff at his residence in the 500 block of E Street.

Since Thursday's fateful sequence of events, a makeshift memorial of cards, flowers and other sentiments in tribute to Corona and in support of her family and members of the Davis Police Department has steadily grown outside the police station.

"The Davis Police Department would like to extend our deepest gratitude for the outpouring of support shown to us as a result of this unthinkable, heartbreaking tragedy," Davis PD officials said in a statement. "Simply put, your support has given us sustenance and comfort in our greatest time of need in the history of this agency."

The Davis Police Department noted that anyone wishing to donate money to help the family of Corona — she is survived by her mother, her law enforcement veteran father, and her sister — may do so by making checks payable to the Natalie Corona Memorial Fund. Checks may be dropped off at, or mailed to, the Davis Police Department, 2600 5th St., Davis, CA 95618.

Community members wishing to donate food for police officers or for the funeral service may contact Michele Hardy at mhardy@davispd.org.

The Davis Police Department also asked that in lieu of calling the department, those wishing to express their condolences may do so by sending messages of support via email to policeweb@cityofdavis.org or by stopping by the police station. Copies will be made for the Corona family of all cards, letters, art and poems, police said.

"The Davis PD family thanks you for the love you have shown to us," police officials said. "We have no doubt that such kindness and empathy would have made Natalie proud."

Following Friday's memorial service, a law enforcement procession will escort Corona's family and members of Davis PD to a graveside ceremony.

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Main photo: Sydney Carlier, foreground, accompanied by roommates, Jenna Brouwer, center and Camille Foder, behind flag, places flowers on a memorial for slain Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Davis, Calif. Corona, 22, who had been on the job only a few weeks, was shot and killed, Thursday, by a suspect who opened fire as she was investigating a three-car crash. The suspect was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, following a standoff with officers. (Photo credit: Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press)