The former Baton Rouge police officer and Army Airborne Ranger veteran who died shortly before midnight Sunday in a confrontation with a vehicle burglary suspect was "larger than life," family and friends said Monday.

Ryan Hord, 41, the father of a 15-year-old son, left law enforcement several years ago to form a contracting company and had a passion for bringing hope and brightness to the lives of others, said those who knew him.

"He made a huge impact on the Capital Heights area," said Penni Guidry, among the friends who had gathered Monday at Hord's home on Richland Avenue.

Nearby, her partner, David Mooney, watered the flower beds Hord had planted along the front porch. A devoted gardener, Hord built and filled a planter for nearby Bernard Terrace Elementary and had brightened available spots in the Capital Heights area with small pocket planters filled with flowers, Mooney said.

+2 Man shot to death after confronting vehicle burglar; suspect hospitalized with injuries, BRPD says A man was killed in a shooting off Government Street late Sunday after he confronted a suspected vehicle burglar and the two exchanged gunfire…

At Christmas time, Mooney said, Hord would dress as Santa Claus — in an impressive velvet Santa suit that his mother made him for the purpose — and bleach his beard white to give out food and socks to the homeless.

Hord's family said he was at his home, at 145 Richland Ave. on Sunday night, with his fiancée, Natalie Butler, when he went outside to investigate sounds coming from the front yard and interrupted an attempted break-in of his pickup truck, which was parked in his driveway.

The would-be robber ran away, south toward Government Street, and Hord got in his truck to follow and confront the man, said Hord's mother, Ginny Gibbs Berry.

"This was not the first incident that's happened" in the neighborhood, Berry said, adding that she didn't know if the same person was involved in the other incidents.

"There have been multiple attempted break-ins and robberies of residences," Berry said. "That's the only reason he took action."

Baton Rouge Police said that after Hord confronted the man, gunfire was exchanged and Hord died at the scene. The incident happened at 234 Richland Ave., just a few addresses down from Hord's home.

Hord died in the arms of his fiancée, family members said.

The 29-year-old suspect, who fled and was later found by officers with the help of a police dog, is in the hospital with injuries. Upon his release, the suspect, whose name has not yet been made public, will be booked on first-degree murder, police said.

Baton Rouge police spokesman Sgt. Don Coppola Jr. said Hord, 41, had joined the department in 2009 and served for at least a few years.

The death of her son, Berry said, "is impossible to imagine."