Long Beach police, officials react to Dallas shooting: 'Devastating'

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia this moing described last night’s shooting of police officers in Dallas, Texas, as “devastating.”

“Feeling pretty sad for our country today,” he said in a Facebook message. “So many families grieving unthinkable losses.”

Police Chief Robert Luna was in a meeting this moing and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Long Beach Police Officer Jason Lehman, who runs a nonprofit aimed at training the public and officers about the impact of police interactions, said the events of this week are exactly what he’s trying to prevent.

“We’ve been battling this for a long time,” he said of the perception of police abuse of power and violence against police.

On a day like today – the moing after five police officers were killed at a rally in Dallas over the police shootings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Miesota – an officer likely feels “the same as you and I feel if we lost a family member.”

“My thought immediately was to get back on my computer, get a hold of my board ... and get back to moving forward to effect change,” said Lehman, founder of Why’d You Stop Me.

There is no word yet of any formal vigils or gatherings in Long Beach. The mayor said in an interview this moing he is working on a response to the local police force.

More to come.