Slain Dallas cop Brent Thompson had married a fellow officer 2 weeks before shooting

The first slain officer identified in Thursday’s sniper attack on law enforcement officials was praised as a “great officer” and was recently married, his chief said Friday. Dallas Area Rapid Transit Officer Brent Thompson was one of five officers killed by multiple shooters during a protest in downtown Dallas.

Thompson, 43, is the first DART officer killed in the line of duty in the 27-year history of the agency. He had been with DART since 2009.

“Brent was a great officer,” DART Chief James Spiller told MSNBC Friday morning. “He has served admirably during his time here at DART.”

Thompson had married a fellow transit officer in the last two weeks, Spiller said.

“As you can imagine, our hearts are broken,” DART said in a statement. “This is something that touches every part of our organization. We have received countless expressions of support and sympathy from around the world through the evening. We are grateful for every message.”

According to Thompson’s LinkedIn profile, he previously trained police in Southern Iraq for private contractor DynCorp International. The firm confirmed to Yahoo News that Thompson was a former employee.

“Mr. Thompson did work for our company in the past. We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of one of our alumni. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this most difficult time,” said DynCorp spokeswoman Mary Lawrence.

Three other DART officers were also shot and injured in the sniper attack. Those officers were identified as Misty McBride, Omar Cannon and Jesus Retana.

“We are grateful to report the three other DART police officers shot during the protest are expected to recover from their injuries,” the DART statement read. “No other DART employees working in Downtown during the protest or shooting were injured.”

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