The police officer who was killed when responding to a mass shooting in Colorado this week is being celebrated as a hero. Officer Eric Talley, 51, who started on the force in 2010, was the first responder to the scene. “I can tell you that he’s a very kind man, and he didn’t have to go into policing. He had a profession before this, but he felt a higher calling. And he loved this community. And he’s everything that policing deserves and needs,” Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold told reporters on Tuesday. “He cared about this community. He cared about Boulder Police Department. He cared about his family. And he was willing to die to protect others. And that gets lost in translation.” Talley leaves behind a wife and seven children. The officer was in the IT field before making a career change at age 40, according to his father, Homer …