Monroe, LA – Monroe Police Officer Ayrian Williams was killed in the line of duty on Monday, after a vehicle pulled out in front of her as she responded to assist another officer.

The fatal collision occurred at approximately 6:45 p.m. on May 21, as 26-year-old Officer Williams was traveling along South 8th Street with her lights and sirens activated, a witness told KNOE.

Another vehicle pulled out in front of her, so the officer swerved to avoid a collision, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.

“There was a truck sitting at the corner,” Rosie Crump, who witnessed the crash from her front yard, told KNOE. “She swerved to avoid hitting the truck. She went in the ditch and then she hit the tree.”

Neighbors rushed to the scene to help the injured officer, while others called 911.

“She coughed twice, coughed up some blood and he just sat right there and held her hand until someone came,” resident Charmaine Owens recounted.

Officer Williams was unresponsive when her fellow officers arrived at the scene, the News Star reported.

She was rushed to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Monroe Police Chief Eugene Ellis said that Officer Williams was “highly dedicated, and an extremely hard worker,” who could have become a police officer anywhere in the country.

“But she came to Monroe Police Department,” Chief Ellis said of the Louisiana State University graduate. “She chose the city of Monroe as her new home and her new community, and for that, we thank her.”

Officer Williams, a six-month veteran of the department, had previously worked for the Southern University Police Department in Baton Rouge, according to the chief.

She leaves behind her mother, brother, and a large extended family.

“I did have an opportunity last night to talk to the officer’s mother, and obviously she is very distraught,” Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo said at the press conference. “We are asking for prayers for the officer’s mother as well as family members and, of course, also the Monroe Police Department.”

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Monroe Police Officer Ayrian Williams, both blood and blue. Thank you for your service.

Officer Ayrian Williams, your life mattered.