CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The four officers killed in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday in the deadliest attack on U.S. law enforcement since 2016 include three members of a fugitive task force and a local police officer who rushed to try to help when the others came under fire.

Friends and co-workers on Tuesday described them as tough but kind — men who loved their jobs and were good at them.

“They’re heroes,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a Tuesday news conference. “They’re heroes because they face dangers that most humans should not have to face. And they accept that danger. And not a single one of them backed away from that challenge yesterday.”

JOSHUA EYER

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer had just been named one of the department’s employees of the month for April.

“Just a few weeks ago I’m shaking his hand congratulating him for being officer of the month in our command center. And that’s because of his work in the community, because of his work getting guns off the street and because of how he responds to his cases and how he treats people,” Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a news conference on Tuesday.