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Iowa bridge dedicated as memorial to slain Omaha officer

News

August 3rd, 2016 by Ric Hanson

WALNUT, Iowa (AP) – A highway bridge in Pottawattamie County has been dedicated as a memorial to a slain Omaha police officer. The Interstate 80 bridge that carries traffic into Walnut has been named the Kerri Orozco Bridge. A scholarship fund also was announced at the bridge dedication ceremony Tuesday.

Orozco was fatally wounded on May 20, 2015, when Marcus Wheeler opened fire on officers who were trying to arrest him. Wheeler was killed when another officer returned fire. Orozco was one day away from going on maternity leave to care for the daughter she had delivered prematurely three months earlier.

Orozco and her family lived in Council Bluffs, and she was a native of Walnut.