Two Marines from California, including a Los Angeles SWAT team officer who was on active duty, were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.
Sgt. Maj. Robert J. Cottle, 45, and Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni, 19, died Wednesday in the blast that also seriously injured two other Marines.
Cottle and Centanni, both of Yorba Linda, and the other Marines were traveling in an armored truck in the Marjah region of Afghanistan when the incident occured, LAPD Capt. John Incontro said. No other details of the incident were immediately available.
Cottle, a 20-year veteran of the Police Department, had been deployed on active duty since August 2009. He served with the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, based at Camp Pendleton.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa released a statement praising Cottle's dedication to public service.
"Very few people know what it truly means to every day have the courage to unflinchingly march forward in the face of danger," the mayor said. "Yet Officer Cottle did so with not only a steadfast commitment to the safety of this city, but with a strong sense of pride and duty for his country."
Los Angeles Police Protective League, the city's officers' union, said Cottle was the first Los Angeles police officer to be killed serving in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"As a SWAT officer, R.J. was a tactical genius. His military service gave him unique skills that he generously shared with fellow officers," league president Paul M. Weber said in a statement. "His ultimate sacrifice is an immeasurable loss for the LAPD and his friends and family." Cottle is survived by a wife and daughter.
Centanni entered the military in 2008, just weeks after graduating from Anaheim's Esperanza High School, where he played varsity football, his father, Santa Ana police Sgt. Jon Centanni, told The Orange County Register.
"He was a great teammate and it's no surprise at all to me that he chose to join the one other thing with as much camaraderie-the U.S. military," his football coach, Bill Pendleton, told the Register.
