On a late Saturday night in June 2011, Sergeant Darrell Cervandez Curley, 48, responded to a domestic disturbance at a housing complex in Kaibito, on the Navajo Nation. A 26-year veteran of the Navajo Division of Public Safety, Curley and another officer tried to separate two brothers who were fighting. When the brothers resisted, Curley used pepper spray in an effort to subdue them.

The situation escalated when the brothers’ father, Victor Bigman, opened fire on the officers. Curley was struck; despite his wounds he returned fire. The other officer at the scene was also shot and wounded. Curley was airlifted to a hospital in Page, Arizona, but died in the early hours of June 26, 2011. An autopsy reported that his ballistic vest stopped two bullets while two others penetrated his shoulder, one fatally damaging his lung.

Bigman was arrested after the shooting and criminal charges were filed. His sons, Johnson and Tyson Bigman, were also taken into custody and faced tribal charges. If anyone has information about the events that night or knew Sergeant Curley, please share what you know.