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Deputy Mark Stasyuk was a patrol officer for a couple of years at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.
Rene Sandoval is the school community liaison and program manager. He tells ABC10 he was in a meeting with Stasyuk in the morning. Later that afternoon, Stasyuk was killed.
"We had just sat with him that morning," Sandoval said. "He brought up some ideas he wanted to incorporate with the students and the school. We invited him to our tree planting event."
Sandoval said he was well-known for wanting to do more than the description of his job title.
"He was one of the main officers that would come around and check up on his and make sure that we're OK," Sandoval said. "Making sure we didn't need anything."
Sandoval says the impact Stasyuk had on people at the school from the students to the staff will always be remembered.
"My principal was always telling him alright be careful, be safe out there," Sandoval said. "He's gonna be with us no matter what. I know that for sure."
The school's principal, Laura Butler, said that the school is having a tree planting ceremony on the 6th and one of the teachers had the idea to dedicate one of the trees in Stasyuk's honor.
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