Police Officer Nelson Alvin Sasscer

Nelson Alvin Sasscer

Police Officer Nelson Sasscer was shot and killed when he was ambushed by a member of the radical racist group the Black Panthers.

He had observed the two suspects hiding in the shadows on a residential street, at the intersection of 3rd Street and Raitt Street, and was shot twice in the abdomen as he approached them. Both suspects were arrested later that night.

The shooter was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to five years to life on June 17th, 1970. He was paroled in 1977.

Officer Sasscer was a Vietnam War veteran and had served with the Santa Ana Police Department for 18 months. He had been awarded Rookie of the Year the previous year. survivors include his wife, mother, five brothers, and three sisters.

The Black Panther Party was a black nationalist and Marxist revolutionary political and militant organization active in the United States between 1966 and 1982. 

Members and former members of the group were responsible for the murders of over 20 law enforcement officers and the wounding of dozens more across the nation.

Please click here to visit all the law enforcement officers who have died as a result of the Black Panther Party's violent activism.