Tommy Scott

Los Angeles Airport Police Officer Tommy Scott, age 35, was the first Los Angeles Airport Police officer killed in the line of duty. He had served for four years with the airport police and died heroically on April 29, 2005, while protecting the aviation community from a man intent on crashing a vehicle into an airplane on the LAX airport runway.

Physically fit and widely known as the kindest officer on the force, Scott was a role model highly dedicated to public safety and service. The former lifeguard and Red Cross volunteer worked for 15 years at the L.A. County Parks and Recreation Department before joining the Los Angeles Airport Police Department, and saved two children from drowning while working for the County. As an LAXPD field training officer, he was known for the thorough and caring attitude he displayed toward his trainees, as well as his contagious smile and positive energy.

Every year since Officer Scott’s death, his fellow Los Angeles Airport Police officers have conducted an informal run around LAX in his honor. In 2015, the nonprofit Los Angeles Airport Police Athletics & Activities League, Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association, Los Angeles World Airports and Association of Airport Employees joined forces to transform the department event into the community-based Tommy Scott Memorial 5K & 10K LAX Run. In 2016, the event was expanded to include a half marathon course. The run is expected to draw at least 1,000 runners, city leaders, public safety agencies and supporters from throughout L.A. County and beyond.

All proceeds will benefit the Tommy Scott Memorial Scholarship Fund, which has awarded dozens of scholarships over the past decade. “Every year, we plan to grow the run to memorialize Tommy in a celebratory way and increase the scholarship fund that bears his name,” says Los Angeles Airport Peace Officers Association President Marshall McClain.