Ministry sends devotional books following death of officer

MOBILE, Ala.––The Strength for Service team sent 58 copies of Strength for Service to God and Community following the shooting of Mobile Police Officer Justin Billa.

Billa, 27, was shot and killed Feb. 20 while assisting in the apprehension of a man who had just murdered his ex-wife.

Officer Billa and other officers arrived at the scene of the murder when the husband exited the home and opened fire on them, striking Officer Billa. Another officer returned fire as the subject retreated into the house.

Officer Billa was transported to hospital where he died a short time later.

The subject remained barricaded inside his home for the next three hours. His body was recovered from the home following the standoff.

Officer Billa had served with the Mobile Police Department for two years. He is survived by his wife and one 1-year-old son.

Billa's fellow officers describe him as passionate and soft spoken. "If he wasn't killed and the guy was unarmed, I guarantee even with a gunshot wound, he would have dragged him to the ambulance," said Officer Deron McMichael.

"There are 600 of us who are always going to be there for you,” McMichael told his wife Erin Elizabeth.

Addressing members of the police department, he said, “I know if he could be here right now, he would say something like ‘quit crying in your uniform, what's wrong with you?’ He would smile at you until you smiled."