Sergeant Ira Gabor Essoe Sr., a retired Orange County Sheriff’s Department sergeant, died February 4, 2010, from complications of gunshot wounds he sustained November 6, 1980. On that night he and a plainclothes partner went to the Mall of Orange to collect bail on a warrant and saw three men breaking into a car. As Essoe engaged one suspect with his revolver, one of the suspects disarmed Essoe’s partner and ordered him down. During the exchange one of the three fleeing men returned and shot Essoe in the back, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

Essoe survived for decades but suffered numerous life-threatening medical problems tied to his injuries and continued to contribute to the department. The coroner ruled his death a homicide, attributing it to delayed complications from remote gunshot wounds. The three suspects were arrested and received prison terms of eight to 18 years for the original shooting and attempted murder. In 2010 the district attorney filed murder charges after Essoe’s death, but the California Court of Appeals later determined the 1980 law did not permit murder convictions in this circumstance, and the men were released after serving one year on the murder charge.

Anyone who knew Sergeant Essoe, the incident at the Mall of Orange, or has information about the case is asked to share what they remember.