Gary Alan Maas was a 29-year-old patrolman with the Yuma Police Department when he was shot and killed at the Greyhound bus depot in downtown Yuma on April 9, 1986. Maas had served in the U.S. Marine Corps before moving to Arizona and was remembered by colleagues as hard-working; he was separated from the mother of his two older children and engaged to a pregnant partner. He was the first Yuma officer killed in the line of duty.

The shooting followed a report by a Greyhound driver that passengers had noticed troubling behavior and a bullet in the bus restroom. Maas responded to check the disturbance. Witnesses told a jury that a struggle began when Maas frisked 28-year-old twins Edward Neil Smith and Donald Smith; gunfire erupted at close range. Maas was mortally wounded, and Donald was fatally shot after Maas returned fire. Edward fled, was arrested in Oklahoma within a week, and was later tried and convicted in Yuma County of felony murder and escape, receiving life sentences for the two deaths.

Maas left two children, Jason and Stephanie, and a daughter born after his death. His name appears on Yuma’s fallen-officer memorial and the department marks April 9 each year. Does anyone have memories of Maas or information about that night that could add detail to the account?