It's been 43 years since CHP officer Merle Andrews was gunned down on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, but friends and law enforcement officials gathered Friday to celebrate the long journey to a fitting tribute.

Signs declaring the interchange of the San Diego (405) and Harbor (110) freeways the "CHP Officer Merle L. Andrews Memorial Interchange" were unveiled at a ceremony in Gardena.

Andrews was working as a motorcycle officer when he was fatally wounded on Dec. 20, 1967, during a traffic stop in Palos Verdes Estates by a man who wanted to kill police officers.

Chris O'Quinn, CHP captain of the South Los Angeles area, said Andrews was the 112th CHP officer killed in the line of duty.

"That sign means to me what my job as a CHP officer represents - people who are sworn to provide service and protection to the citizens of California," O'Quinn said.

Andrews grew up in a law enforcement family, with his father and brother serving in the Compton police force. Andrews himself worked in the Compton Police Department and was on patrol with the CHP for nine years before he was killed.

Tony Rios, 83, and Keith Alber, 75 - friends and fellow officers of Andrews who both served as pallbearers at his funeral - sat in the front row at the ceremony.

"It's a tribute to my friend, to my fellow officer by the state of California," Rios said. "To see his name up there, that's the greatest thing that I can say today. He was my dear friend."

Rios and Alber were two of the last people to see Andrews alive. At the start of their shift on that fateful day, Alber wrote on the log that officers were on the lookout for an armed individual involved in robbery and kidnapping. Andrews wrote the license plate number from the report onto his hand.

The suspect, Thomas Spychala, had started a bizarre crime spree earlier during which he told his neighbor and a minister that he was out to get into a shootout with police.

Andrews spotted and pulled over Spychala while on patrol but was unable to call for backup because of a radio dead zone in the area. The officer approached the vehicle with his weapon drawn.

Spychala fired at Andrews and struck his wrist. Witnesses said Andrews fired back six times, shattering Spychala's back window.

Unable to reload, Andrews retreated to a nearby hillside. Spychala then opened fire at Andrews with a carbine rifle, hitting Andrews again. The officer later died of his wounds.

At 5 p.m., Alber heard about the shooting on television. He went to his motorcycle parked in his garage and heard over the patrol radio that Andrews had been wounded.

"So there was no way to help Merle," said Alber, his eyes welling up. "He had to suffer his death alone without help and, of course, we all wished we could have been there. There might have been a different outcome."

About 100 officers from multiple agencies fanned out to search for the suspect.

Spychala was arrested four hours later while attempting to commit suicide inside a pharmacy in Lomita. He had poisoned himself with arsenic demanded from a pharmacist at gunpoint.

Andrews was survived by his wife, Sandra Andrews, and son, Carl J. Andrews.

The long dedication process began in 1996, when CHP Chief John Fogerty, initiated the naming campaign with Assemblywoman Betty Karnette.

The idea was later picked up by late Sen. Jenny Oropeza, who introduced a bill into the Legislature. The interchange was named after Andrews on July 7, 2005. Bureaucratic holdups and the financing of the signs delayed the formal dedication until Friday.

Alber described how Andrews' nature as a person and dedication as an officer made the day he was killed so difficult.

"He was very giving man," Alber said. "That's why he was so loved - more than liked - loved in that office. So the impact of his dying the way he did ... it really hit hard to this day."

After the ceremony, officers signed the back of the highway sign as a tribute. CHP Officer Jason Lopez wrote "Never be forgotten."

"I'll see that sign every day when I go to work," Lopez said. "Now that I know the background story and met his family, he'll never be forgotten."