This undated photo from the Kissimmee Police Department shows Officer Sam Howard. On Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, officials said Officers Howard and Matthew Baxter were checking suspicious people in an area of Kissimmee, Fla., known for drug activity when they were shot and did not have an opportunity to return fire Friday night. Photo: Kissimmee Police Department/Orlando Sentinel via AP.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Law enforcement officers surprised the daughter of a slain Florida police officer by wishing her a happy birthday.
Unique Howard turned 17 two days after the death of her father Kissimmee Police Sgt. Richard “Sam” Howard. Howard and Officer Matthew Baxter were shot Friday night while patrolling a neighborhood known for drug activity. Baxter died Friday and Howard died on Saturday.
Police spokeswoman Stacie Miller tells local news outlets they’d planned to surprise Unique Howard at her home. But her mother told them her daughter had insisted on going to her job at Publix supermarket.
In a video posted on Facebook, Unique Howard wiped away tears and hugged a co-worker as everyone sang “Happy Birthday.” She was given a thin blue line bracelet, symbolic of an officer who died.
