NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Residents of a quiet North Kansas City neighborhood are still processing what happened on Tuesday after the death of NKC Ofc. Daniel Vasquez.
They say their grief is profound.
"My son was crying, he was scared. My husband was terrified, we just didn’t know," Jessica Jennings said.
Jennings lives just a few homes away from where Vasquez died.
"I was on my porch, and I heard the gun shots, and then I ran down to the end of my sidewalk and I saw the car just speeding out, tires burning," Jennings said. "Finding out the cop died just broke all of our hearts."
She placed flowers near the scene, and so did Scott Shepard. He also lives nearby.
"I just feel for his family. Such a young guy and a great career ahead of him," Shepard said. "We love our North Kansas City cops."
Larry Brassfield visits North KC frequently to see friends and get a bite to eat.
"I was really shocked that something like this would happen in North Kansas City," he said. "I wanted to come by and say a prayer, because I heard the officer passed away."
Emotions are still raw, for a neighborhood that says it helps, loves and cares for each other.
"It’s gonna be hard, you know, the way that we kind of look out for each other down here, it’s great," Shepard said.
"Every house on the street has children, we all play together, we all have barbecues and eat dinner together," Jennings said. "I have a good relationship with my neighbors. For someone to get hurt, period, even if they had just fallen off a ladder, we would’ve ran and tried to help the best we could."
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