TYLER, Texas — A mobile law enforcement memorial made a stop in downtown Tyler Monday to honor Smith County Deputy Lorenzo Bustos.
Bustos was killed in July 2022 when he was struck by an intoxicated driver while conducting a traffic stop on State Highway 155.
The Beyond the Call of Duty End of Watch to Remember Memorial stopped behind the Smith County Courthouse Monday as part of day 17 of a 73-day tour. The mobile memorial makes stops in the town of every law enforcement officer who died in the line of duty over the last two years. Monday's visit took time to honor Bustos.
"Behind me, we have all of the officers lost across the nation in the line of duty in 2022, 245 and on the opposite side of the memorial we have all the officers lost in 2023, all 135 of them," said Allison McCarter with the Beyond the Call of Duty organization.
McCarter said the group's founder JC Shaw wanted to find a way to help honor men and women who were killed while serving in law enforcement.
"Not just locally in their own communities and counties and states, but to help keep their memories alive across the nation," McCarter said. "To introduce their photos and names and stories to complete strangers at the other end of the country just to keep their memories alive."
Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith said that he wishes none of the photos had to be on the memorial, but he appreciates the organization's mission.
"I think it's an honor for the families for their loved one to have their photograph going around, traveling throughout the nation to keep the memory alive about their loved one they lost," Smith said.
Many local law enforcement officers attended a short ceremony and signed a banner with messages about Bustos. The memorial trailer began touring the US in 2020 and updates the pictures every year.