CALIFORNIA, Pa. — It was in his first years of teaching where PennWest California Associate Professor Dr. Christopher Wydra remembers meeting Andrew Duarte.
“I could talk to him, I could joke around with him, so there was this comfort level where I could joke around with him and he would joke around back with me,” Wydra said.
Duarte graduated from PennWest in California in 2016. He then became a police officer in Colorado before returning to Pennsylvania and working for the West York Borough Police Department.
He was shot and killed on the job Saturday morning inside a UPMC hospital after a gunman took hospital staff hostage.
>>> Police officer killed, 5 other people injured in shooting at UPMC hospital in Central Pennsylvania
“My daughter texted me and said did you know this officer, he was a student at CalU. I read the article and saw the name and picture and remembered him right away,” Wydra said.
It’s a heartbreaking loss for this community and Duarte’s family. His mother told NBC News she just knew.
“I’m not surprised he answered the call, I’m not surprised he was one of the ones in on the front, he was a mighty warrior,” said Andrew’s mother Nancy Duarte Matarese.
The PennWest University Council of Trustees will pass a resolution at their next meeting on March 27 to honor his memory and service.
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