No one will forget Randal Simmons, the first Los Angeles Police Department SWAT officer killed in the line of duty 10 years ago in Winnetka.
“I believe the reason his life spoke volumes to so many people is because of what he did on and off duty,” said his widow Lisa, 53, in a recent phone interview. “His character. He was a mentor and minister (at Glory Christian Fellowship International Church in Carson) on and off duty.”
Simmons, who lived in Rancho Palos Verdes, also “told you how it was,” she said.
“He broke the mold of what a man should be,” Lisa said of his blunt-talking ways. “He just had a huge heart. He wasn’t meek. He was almost rough around the edges. That’s what people loved about him.”
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Matthew Simmons, 15, holds a photograph of his father, fallen LAPD SWAT Officer, Randal Simmons, after the 39th Annual Los Angeles County Peace Officers’ Memorial at the Sheriff’s Training Academy and Regional Services (STARS) Center in Whittier on Wednesday May 28, 2008. The names of fallen officers, Randal Simmons and Raul Gama, were added to the memorial this year. The memorial ceremony honors officers who died in the line of duty. (SGVN/Photo by Keith Durflinger/High)
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One of 20 memorial billboards for slain officer Randal Simmons along Florence Ave. near 5th Avenue in Los Angeles, CA Wednesday July 16, 2008. (Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer)
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Los Angeles Fire Department members set the U.S. Flag outside the main entrance of the Crenshaw Christian Center Faith Dome for funeral services for slain SWAT team member Randal Simmons, Friday, Feb. 15, 2008, in Los Angeles. Simmons, killed in a raid on a gunman’s house Feb. 7, was the LAPD’s first SWAT officer to die in the line of duty since the unit was formed in 1967. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilman Dennis Zine, First Assistant Chief of Police Jim McDonnell and members of the LAPD and LAFD, and the West Valley Police Activity League, unveiled a plaque to honor the memory of fallen SWAT Officer Randal Simmons at the entrance to the childrenÕs play area at West Valley Park in Reseda. Several members of the Simmons family in attendance including his wife Lisa, children Matthew,16, and Gabrielle,14, along with his mother Constance Simmons. Simons died in the line of duty while responding to an incident in the San Fernando Valley on February 7, 2008. Photos by John McCoy/ staff photographer 7/26/2008
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A police motorcade for slain L.A.P.D. SWAT Team Officer Randal Simmons winds it’s way up Slausen Ave. in Culver City Friday. , February 15, 2008. (Staff file photo)
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilman Dennis Zine, First Assistant Chief of Police Jim McDonnell and members of the LAPD and LAFD, and the West Valley Police Activity League, unveiled a plaque to honor the memory of fallen SWAT Officer Randal Simmons at the entrance to the childrenÕs play area at West Valley Park in Reseda. Several members of the Simmons family in attendance including his wife Lisa, children Matthew,16, and Gabrielle,14, along with his mother Constance Simmons. Simons died in the line of duty while responding to an incident in the San Fernando Valley on February 7, 2008. Photos by John McCoy/ staff photographer 7/26/2008
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LAPD Capt. Jon Tippet owns a photo of deceased LAPD SWAT Officer Randal Simmons with the words “Heroes are never forgotten … They live on through all of us.”
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Simmons was an LAPD veteran for 27 years and a member of the SWAT team since 1991 before he was named assistant squad leader on Dec. 25, 1994.
Simmons died on Feb. 7, 2008, after he was shot and killed during a 10-hour armed standoff in Winnetka.
At 51, he had been planning to retire in a few years when he was called to an incident in Winnetka involving an armed man. It was not a new kind of call for Simmons, who in his nearly 20 years in SWAT had experience his share of these.
This call, on Feb. 6, 2008, was to the San Fernando Valley. Edwin Rivera, a mentally disturbed 20-year-old, already had killed his father and two brothers that night at their Welby Way home. He called 911 repeatedly and told police, “Come get me,” along with nonsensical rambling.
Then came a 10-hour stand-off.
Finally, eight SWAT team officers stormed the home around 12:30 a.m. to find three bodies. They walked into gunfire.
Besides Simmons’ fatal injuries, Officer James Veenstra was critically injured when he was shot in the jaw. Two other officers were injured.
Edwin Rivera later tried to flee the home — which caught fire apparently from police flash-bang grenades — but was shot and killed by a police sniper on the front lawn.
“I’ll never forget it,” said LAPD SWAT Lt. Ruben Lopez, who worked the February 2008 standoff as authorities scrambled to determine what was going on.
“We were trying to determine if it was a SWAT incident or a prank or someone who annihilated his family,” Lopez said. “And within seconds this static, uneventful call turned into one of the darkest hours that our team and department has ever experienced.”
Lopez said the impact of Simmons’ legacy continues to ripple through the LAPD.
“He was not only a product of the community he served but he was the embodiment of what LAPD represents,” Lopez said of Simmons. “We try to give back to the community. Every year we hold a Randy Simmons 5k run. That money goes directly to his foundation. We interact with the community and defy stereotypes.”
LAPD Capt. Jon Tippet owns a photo of the SWAT officer. It features a smiling Simmons with an American flag in the background.
“This is the picture that I had made and hangs in my office behind my desk in recognition of this great leader, friend and mentor,” Tippet said. “I use his legacy as a guide to Metropolitan Division officers to be their very best.”
On Wednesday, some of L.A.’s top officials — including LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and Mayor Eric Garcetti — issued statements of respect for Simmons on Twitter.
“It’s hard to believe 10 years have passed since Randy made the ultimate sacrifice for our community. He lived and breathed defending and giving back to the citizens of Los Angeles, and even though time continues to pass- his impact will always be remembered
— LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck
It’s hard to believe 10 years have passed since Randy made the ultimate sacrifice for our community. He lived and breathed defending and giving back to the citizens of Los Angeles, and even though time continues to pass- his impact will always be remembered. pic.twitter.com/pjQ0RcWjQP
— Chief Charlie Beck (@LAPDChiefBeck) February 7, 2018
“It’s hard to believe 10 years have passed since Randy made the ultimate sacrifice for our community,” Beck said in his online comments. “He lived and breathed defending and giving back to the citizens of Los Angeles, and even though time continues to pass- his impact will always be remembered.”
Today, we remember Randal Simmons, father, husband, minister, and LAPD Metropolitan Division SWAT Officer, who 10 years ago today was taken from us while protecting our city. Randy served the city for 27 years and was the first LAPD SWAT Officer who was … https://t.co/Nr4v3vKM1d pic.twitter.com/zjbfRW0WJa
— Eric Garcetti (@ericgarcetti) February 7, 2018
10 years ago today the Los Angeles Police Department lost Randy Simmons on a
call-up in West Valley Division! We will never forget!#Thebest pic.twitter.com/rf0HMtp4ic
— Rick Stabile (@LAPDRickStabile) February 7, 2018
Today, plz take a moment 2 honor & pray 4 LAPD SWAT Ofcr Randy Simmons & family on 10th anniversary of his EOW in the line of duty. Ultimate sacrifice, eternal hero. Watch our 6, Randy#lapd
— Asst Chief Girmala (@LAPDGirmala) February 7, 2018
It’s hard to believe that today marks 10 years since LAPD Officer Simmons was killed in the line of duty. Sir your memory lives on.. I know your watching your family and all of us in blue from above. #41D #lapd #swat #brotherinblue
pic.twitter.com/nYmXmiJZzt
— SLO Poepke (@21SL29) February 8, 2018
He touched lives as far away as St Louis as he trained the newly formed full time SWAT team in 99′. Randy never used a car and ran to all the training locations. Some as far as 10 miles away. Incidentally, in the NJ devils cap is PO Bob Stanze EOW 08/08/00. #Heros pic.twitter.com/WrtJRexfvP
— SD (@MR4278) February 7, 2018
Simmons has posthumously received honors and awards, including the renaming of West Valley Park at Vanowen Street and Wilbur Avenue in Reseda to the Randal D. Simmons Park in January 2010.
RELATED STORY: Reseda park renamed for slain SWAT Officer Randal Simmons
Lisa Simmons, who has since remarried, said she and their two children saw Simmons’ good deeds firsthand.
“I didn’t know how he did it, looking back,” she said of her late husband, who was born in San Bernardino and graduated from Fairfax High School in L.A. “He was an amazing man. He never missed a beat with his own family. But he gave so much of himself to children and people who were less fortunate.”
The “Legacy Of Love Ten Year Anniversary Fundraising Event” to support the Randal D. Simmons Outreach Foundation is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 24 in Manhattan Beach. More information on the event and the foundation is at www.randysimmonsswat.com/foundation/.
Lisa Simmons said the immediate family — which includes their son Matthew, 25 and daughter Gabrielle, 23 — are part of a group that helps run the foundation, which provides community support.
“I established a foundation to do whatever I could do,” Lisa said, adding Simmons just asked people to do “something” whether big or small.
Life hasn’t been easy, she acknowledged, but the family continues to move forward because that’s what her late husband would want.
“It’s God’s grace and mercy we’re here today,” she said. “We have to press on in life.”
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