City flags flew at half-staff Thursday to honor a Los Angeles police officer killed while serving in Afghanistan, and also to honor the late mother of police Chief Charlie Beck.

Both Staff Sgt. Joshua J. Cullins, 28, a Marine reservist, and Elma Beck, 86, died on Monday.

"The flags are presently lowered in honor of Joshua J. Cullins. However, I would also like to use this opportunity to observe the passing of Elma Beck,'' Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a memo Thursday.

Cullins, a bomb specialist, was killed in a roadside blast in Helmand province - the second LAPD officer killed there this year.

He had disarmed roadside bombs in Iraq as well as Afghanistan, and two months ago he survived a roadside explosion in Afghanistan that left him with a concussion.

Cullins reportedly had just two days left in the field as an explosive ordinance disposal technician when he was killed while investigating a bomb. He was scheduled to be home by Christmas.

He had been with the LAPD for three years and patrolled downtown. His goal was to join the police bomb squad.

He enlisted in the Marines after graduating high school in 2000 and joined the reserves in 2007. His last tour of duty was with the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment.

Beck, the matriarch of a law enforcement family, died at her San Pedro home after a short battle with cancer.

The former nurse and teacher is survived by her husband of 61 years, LAPD Deputy Chief George Beck; her children, police Chief Charlie Beck and former police Detective Megan Beck; and six grandchildren, including police officers Brandi Scimone and Martin Beck.