ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

The families of five law enforcement officers in Dallas are coping with their own terrible news. And Rebekah Jones knows how it feels. Her husband Brian Jones was an officer in Norfolk, Va. He was shot and killed in the line of duty in May 2014, leaving behind Rebekah and their young three children.

REBEKAH JONES: His ritual every night before he would leave us for his shift - he would kiss us on the cheek or me on the lips and whisper a prayer in our ear. He would get in his car and leave. And that night in particular, we were leaving Why Not Pizza. It was a Friday night - and same thing, you know, I was like we got to hurry. The kids were getting restless, and I was going to take them home. And he sent me a text message, and he told me, I love you and I really enjoyed dinner with you guys tonight.

And that was the last I heard from him. Two hours later, I had a knock on my front door, and I was told you need someone to come sit with the kids. Brian has been shot. It was one of our officers that had come to notify me, and I said this is a horrible joke. And he said no, Rebekah, and he started crying. He said it's serious, you need to get to the hospital.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Her husband died before she could get there. He was shot while responding to an active shooter situation. Last night, Rebekah Jones was with a friend when she saw the news about Dallas.

JONES: I started shaking. I - the anxiety started coming out, and I was like I can't watch it, I can't watch it. But then at the same time, all I could think about was I would give anything to be able to fly to Texas and give those survivors - and I'm going to get emotional talking about this - but just give them a hug and tell them, you know, this sucks. This is terrible.

Right now you feel like you are never going to smile again. You feel like you have just entered the worst nightmare of your life, and you have. But I can promise you there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and you will breathe again. You will be happy again.

SIEGEL: And for those who will watch a police officer in their lives go out on duty this evening, she says this.

JONES: Before their officer leaves tonight they need to give them the tightest hug ever. They need to give them the most passionate kiss that they can even consider and make sure that they tell them they love them, and they are so proud of them. That's one thing that I can look back and say, I'm so happy that I had, you know - I got to kiss him two hours before he was ambushed. I got to tell him that I loved him, and I would not change that for anything.

SIEGEL: That was Rebekah Jones. Her husband Brian was killed in the line of duty in 2014. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.