Groundbreaking for Natalie's Corner to be held Saturday in Central Park

Davisites will never forget the tragic day when we lost one of our best

It's been over five and a half years since that incredibly sad and tragic January evening when Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona was shot and killed on duty as she responded to a routine traffic accident on 5th Street between the Catholic Newman Center and the Davis Community Church.

On Saturday at Central Park, less than a block from where Natalie was so brutally and senselessly taken from our community, there will be a groundbreaking ceremony for the Natalie's Corner Splashpad, a vibrant and uplifting project that honors a young officer who gave her life in service to our beautiful city.

The event will take place from 10 to 10:30 a.m. in Central Park near the stage by the carousel.

Honored guests will be the Corona family from Arbuckle, while members of the Natalie Corona Committee will be available to celebrate this milestone and give updates on the splashpad's progress and funding.

In that regard, there are several ways for people to contribute, including a direct donation or the purchase of a personalized brick. All donations over $500 will be listed on a permanent Donor Wall.

For $224, you can purchase a brick that will be part of the construction that can be personalized with your family's name, the name of someone you wish to honor or a personal message.

The number 224 is Natalie's City of Davis Police Badge number.

Natalie's Corner will feature a splashpad and gathering space, landscaping and pollinator gardens and plant identification signs, plus benches, picnic tables, low-wall seating, shade structures and public art.

No one who was living in Davis at that time can forget the tragedy that unfolded on January 10, 2019, a seemingly ordinary Thursday evening.

Officer Natalie Corona was just 22 years old, having begun her service to our town three years earlier as a volunteer Community Service Officer before graduating from the Police Academy in 2018. She had completed her field training just three weeks prior to her death.

Officer Natalie Corona

As Natalie was conducting an investigation at the crash scene, a person not involved in the crash walked up to her and opened fire without warning, fatally striking her. He shot her several more times after she fell to the ground, then fled into a nearby home. He committed suicide moments later as police reached his residence.

Officer Corona was taken to the UC Davis Medical Center, where she died from her wounds.

Just a week later, a memorial service attended by over 8,000 people, including police and fire personnel from around the country, was held at the UC Davis Pavilion.

I was one of those who made it inside before the fire marshall announced that the building's capacity had been reached.

It took me a long while to collect my thoughts before writing the following words in The Davis Enterprise, my employer at the time:

As we were leaving the moving memorial service for Davis police Officer Natalie Corona early Friday afternoon at the UC Davis Pavilion, a longtime resident of our town pulled me aside to tell me he had never seen such an outpouring of support and love in Davis.

That’s because there never before has been such an outpouring. It’s also because never before has Davis been graced with a Natalie Corona, whose short life and tragic death have pulled at our very souls.

As I walked through a parking lot reserved for law enforcement vehicles, it was like seeing a road map of California and beyond.

There were police and sheriff’s vehicles and fire engines from Pasadena and Palo Alto and Portland. Others were from Bakersfield and Berkeley, Williams and Watsonville, Martinez and Marysville, plus Shasta, Modoc and Colusa counties. There was even a police vehicle from the University of Oregon.

Although they didn’t drive to the service, there were officers present from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and the NYPD.

But the one that brought a lump to my throat was the blue and gold fire engine from Arbuckle, Natalie’s hometown, ironically bearing the school colors of Natalie’s alma mater, Pierce High School.

I’ve covered a million basketball games in The Pavilion and never seen a crowd like the one that came to honor a 22-year-old woman who had been on the Davis Police force for such a short time.

I think many of us were surprised that Natalie’s father, Merced, himself a law-enforcement professional from Colusa County, was listed as one of the speakers.

How could a grieving father stand in front of an overflow crowd of 8,000 people, including the governor of California, and find any sort of voice, especially given the horrific circumstances of his daughter’s death?

As it turns out, Merced Corona is a man for the ages, with the gift of speaking from his heart. He made us laugh and he made us cry. He made us think and, most importantly, he told us to love one another.

“There are times in life when we must set all our differences aside and come together as one giant family,” he said, showing not a trace of anger or bitterness.

“It’s time to show love and not hate,” he went on.

With his wife Lupe at his side, Merced added, “We strongly believe in God and his son, Jesus Christ. God makes no mistakes.

“Everything may seem to us as bad luck, as a horrible and senseless death, but I can assure you God himself placed Natalie to be on duty on that day, on that shift, responding to that call for service, standing on that exact spot. And He himself has called her into His presence.”

Here is a man with faith that can move mountains.

Merced went on to describe how he tried to recruit his daughter to the Colusa County Sheriff’s Department and said a nephew wanted her in the California Highway Patrol. All to no avail.

“Natalie chose to be a police officer,” he said.

“She chose the Davis Police Department,” he related. Then she told him, “I can’t see myself going anywhere else.”

Merced Corona pins Davis Police Badge #224 on his daughter Natalie

As for the now-famous photo of Natalie in a long blue dress holding a "Thin Blue Line" flag, Merced said his daughter came up with that on her own.

Officer Natalie Corona

And he repeated the words she posted with the photo on her Facebook page: “I would like this photograph to serve as my gratitude for all those law-enforcement men and women who have served, who are currently serving, and those who have died in the line of duty protecting our liberties in this great country.”

And then he added with resignation, “Little did she know that she and this picture would touch so many lives around the world.”

Merced had us laughing when he said that Natalie would come home to Arbuckle full of excitement about what had transpired during her day in Davis, but she didn’t always find a ready audience.

“I now feel guilty,” he said with a smile, “because on a few occasions we would hear her get home and I would tell Lupe, ‘Here comes Nat. Turn off the lights and act like we’re sleeping.’ ”

That tactic never worked, however, because Natalie would eventually turn the lights back on and have her parents share in her joy for the next 30 or 40 minutes.

Turning serious, Merced added, “One of my proudest moments after pinning her badge was when she asked me ‘Pop, can I now call you Brother Cop?’ After telling her ‘no’ for so long, I finally told her, ‘yes,’ you can now call me Brother Cop.”

And then Merced, speaking directly to the thousands of law-enforcement personnel in The Pavilion, concluded with a moving mix of sadness and respect and love: “So, to all her brother and sister cops, today we lay to rest our beloved Sister Cop.”

As the bagpipers began to play "Amazing Grace," to conclude the service, I was struck by how the title of that hopeful hymn so accurately described what we had all powerfully witnessed from the Corona family, from Merced and Lupe and their daughters Natalie, Jackie, Kathy and Cindy.

We were all blessed to have been in the presence of such a loving and giving family that gives true meaning to the words “Amazing Grace.”

You can reach me at bobdunning@thewaryone.com or feel free to comment below.