Deputy Sheriff Nelson Henry Yamamoto, 26, died on March 31, 1992, from complications of multiple gunshot wounds he suffered two days earlier during a firefight in Walnut Park, California. Yamamoto was a three-year member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and had been assigned to the Firestone substation; he was in his second month of a six-month mandatory training period when he responded to a disturbance call involving armed suspects.

Deputies saw two armed men inside a garage; as the suspects exited, a gunfight broke out. Yamamoto was hit in the abdomen, shoulder, thigh, and foot by rounds from a .357 magnum. He returned fire, expending all 16 rounds from his 9-millimeter semi-automatic. One suspect was killed at the scene; the other, identified as Cesar Uriel Mazariego-Molina, fled and later was located in New York, where he was shot and killed by officers following a pursuit after being recognized by an employer who had seen him on America’s Most Wanted.

Nearly 4,000 uniformed officers attended Yamamoto’s April 7, 1992, funeral. If anyone has information about the March 29 incident or knew Deputy Yamamoto, please share what you know.