Metro tributes slain officer Abdelnabi amid opening of new substation

The Metropolitan Police Department’s newest substation has been open for only a few days, yet officers are already filling it with reminders of a fallen colleague. Inside the briefing room at Hollywood Area Command on Thursday, a table displayed numerous tributes to Officer Austin “Zade” Abdelnabi, who was gunned down in the line of duty on Aug. 4. The items included a bouquet of blue and gold painted roses, a representation committee signed by dozens of people, sympathy cards, a white shot bat with a bladed blue line painted horizontally across it and an inscription marking the fallen officer’s end of watch, among others. Outside the briefing room, in the adjoining hallway, Abdelnabi’s headshot hangs on a partition alongside portraits of other Metro officers killed in the line of duty. Those are just a few of the reminders Metro had on display during a tour of the substation, located near South Hollywood Boulevard and East Sahara Avenue, following a Thursday ribbon‑cutting ceremony. Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Southeast Area Command, where Abdelnabi worked, will close for renovations starting Friday and that officers assigned to the 24‑year‑old substation will work out of the Hollywood Area Command for about nine months, until renovations are complete. McMahill noted that Abdelnabi’s absence has been particularly palpable as officers have moved into the new building, in which a locker has been dedicated to the fallen officer. He remarked, “This week would have been the week he would have been moving into this building,” McMahill said of Abdelnabi. “Packing up his belongings at Southeast Area Command, finding a spot here. Aug. 4 changed that.” A memorial for Sergeant Charleston Hartfield, who was killed during the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, will remain in place at Southeast Area Command, a department spokesperson said in a statement following Thursday’s event. After work on Southeast Area Command is completed, “a whole new set of officers” will begin working at Hollywood Area Command, McMahill said. Southeast Area Command is located near the intersection of East Harmon Avenue and South Sandhill Road, about six miles from the new substation. McMahill added, “Our level of service to this community will not change,” McMahill said. “In fact, it’s gonna be stronger than ever.” Capt. Justin Byers, who leads Southeast Area Command, agreed. “We’re just going to be in a different building,” Byers said. “Our commitment to the community, the southeast, is going to stay the same.” The Hollywood Area Command substation, funded by a Clark County capital improvement program, will also serve as an important asset for the east valley community, McMahill said. Construction work on the new substation began last March, and the completed facility will help boost Metro’s presence in the area as the population continues to grow, he said. The installation is a fully operational substation equipped with a waiting area and kiosks