NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — North Kansas City is a city in mourning, with flags at half staff and 'End of Watch’ banners hung across Armour Road.
The city is coping with the shooting death of Officer Danny Vasquez, the first NKC police officer to die in the line of duty.
“Everything we do it’s just to honor him,” said Les Kerr, with the Missouri Law Enforcement Funeral Assistance Team.
Kerr and his team want to be certain Daniel Vasquez will be remembered.
“We lost a police officer, they lost a brother, son, a coworker like family,” Kerr said.
As the flowers piled up on his patrol car, plans were being made for the formal memorial service Wednesday at the main campus of Vineyard Church
Church staff told KSHB 41 News Vasquez and his fiancé served as off-duty officers at the church's North Kansas City location.
“A servant's heart,” Kerr said. “He absolutely had a servant's heart and gave and gave and gave.”
The public can pay their respects at a public viewing Tuesday, at a Wednesday morning service or along a procession after the service.
The city’s plans are laid out here.
“They can line the streets and hold signs and flags and show the support for the community for that department and most importantly for Danny’s family,” Kerr said.
It's Vasquez's family that Kerr thinks about as he helps plan the remembrances.
"I can't imagine what they are going through, to have to grieve publicly like this,” Kerr said. “To know those people loved him, those people supported him and now they support them.”
On Wednesday Daniel Vasquez will receive his ultimate honors—three-shot volley, taps, folding of the American flag, a flyover and a last radio call.
