Sign Commemorates Marine Slain by Deputy

Supporters of the late Sgt. Manny Loggins have placed a sign at the first overpass leading in to San Clemente on the I-5 Freeway.

in February after he crashed through a gate.

The incident has been. Loggins was unarmed and his daughters were in the back seat of the vehicle when Sandberg shot him. The freeway sign, along with reading "Remember Manny Loggins," bears the inscription "Armed only with love."

According to the police narrative, Loggins crashed through the gate, drawing the attention of Sandberg, who was in his cruiser in the school's parking lot. He left his vehicle, "making irrational statements" and walked off into the adjacent athletic fields.

Other deputies arrived to form a perimeter around the field, and Loggins returned to his vehicle, disobeying orders not to start the car, police said.

Sandberg told investigators he feared for the safety of Loggins' two young daughters in the back seat and for the safety of other motorists if Loggins drove off, which caused him to shoot the man.

Loggins died almost immediately, according Orange County Fire Authority officials, but was still alive on the way to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The family has since retained a high-profile civil rights attorney from the Cochran Firm in Los Angeles and filed suit against the department.

; it states Loggins' two young daughters were held at OCSD facilities for 13 hours without access to adult family members or an attorney.

Shortly after her husband's death, Loggins' wife gave birth to a healthy baby. The Marine was studying to be a nurse, a career friends said he hoped to take up after eventually leaving the military.

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