The Dallas Morning News

EULESS, Texas — Residents near Euless and first responders across the country mourned a 29-year-old officer who was gunned down in a park Tuesday afternoon before police fatally shot his attacker. Officer David Hofer, a Plano resident, went to J.A. Carr Park at about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday to investigate gunshots when the suspect opened fire on him, Euless police Chief Mike Brown said. He died in surgery at Baylor Scott & White Memorial Center at Grapevine. Hofer is survived by his fiancée, parents, sister and brother.

His fiancée, who was out of town, had to be called home and given the news, the New York Post reported.

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Hofer, the son of European immigrants, previously worked in the 9th Precinct on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, according to the Post. “He was wonderful child, a wonderful police officer,” his mother, Sofija Hofer, told the newspaper.

“He was working this very difficult precinct, so he had a lot of traumatic experiences. … He decided to go to a safer place,” she said.

Sofija Hofer said he wanted to write a book about his time with the NYPD, the Associated Press reports.

“I thought he might be a scientist, like his father, but he always wanted to be a policeman, ever since he was a little boy,” she said.

Officer David Hofer with his fiancée in a photo posted to Facebook Jan. 30. (Facebook Image)

A procession of about 30 emergency vehicles led his mother from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to the hospital at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, KXAS-TV (NBC5) reports. First responders from departments across the area turned out to salute his coffin, draped with an American flag.

More than 1,000 people “liked” a post about Hofer from the Euless Police Department Facebook page.

Stacey McCormick Reed said in a comment on the post that Hofer responded to a car accident she was involved in several weeks ago.

“He was so so nice and helpful-in fact, he made such a good impression that I immediately recognized his name and photo when I saw it on the news,” she wrote. “So sad to hear about losing him in this way. Prayers for his work and home families.”

The Fort Worth Police Officers Association put several posts on Facebook in support of Hofer and the Euless Police Department.

“Red and blue lights as far as the eye can see as officers from numerous police departments lined the street when Euless Police Officer David Hofer was transported to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office,” the Association wrote. “The thin blue line stands strong and will not be broken.”

With great honor we post this picture, which P.O David Hofer posted on his 1St day in Memory of PO Guindon #NYPD pic.twitter.com/kMkBdqyb53 — NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) March 2, 2016

Hofer graduated from New York University in 2008. He served five years with the New York Police Department before coming to Euless in January 2014.

The New York Police Department’s Ninth Precinct Tweeted “Forever in our thoughts & prayers.” The post has been shared and “liked” more than 100 times.

Copyright 2016 The Dallas Morning News