KANSAS CITY, Mo. — First responder agencies from the Kansas City area participated in the Parade of Blue Saturday to honor fallen Fairway police officer Jonah Oswald, who died in the line of duty on Aug. 6 in a shootout at QuikTrip in Mission.
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"It's a sad day in the emergency service world," said Lt. Dennis Costlow with Consolidated Fire District 2, serving northeast Johnson County.
The fire district was among the agencies and businesses displaying the color blue near the parade route to show support.
"That's the least we can do for our brother's and sisters that are in the law enforcement community," Costlow said. "They have a job that we wouldn't want to do and we have a job they wouldn't want to do and we have the ultimate respect for them...we need them just as much as they need us."
It's a respect shared by Genevieve Voigt with Johnson County MED-ACT. She said she didn't know Oswald well, but she did run calls with him.
"A lot of times you don't even learn their first name. You just know them as Officer Oswald," Voigt shared.
Despite not knowing the fallen officer closely, Voigt said she still felt the loss of a member of her first responder family.
"We're all part of the same family. We run the same calls. We take care of the same people. And we see the same things — we see terrible things together, we see funny things together," she said.
While the life that was lost can't be replaced, Voigt said the Parade of Blue was an opportunity to show respect to those risking their own.
"There's nothing that can make it right. There's nothing that can make it better. But, what we can do is we can show that this isn't OK," she said. "Everyone is coming out today to show their support for the family, and for police officers, and for everyone who is risking their lives and losing their lives," she said.
The parade route began in Overland Park, and ran through the cities of Mission and Fairway, before concluding at Harmon Park in Prairie Village with a candlelit vigil to honor Oswald's life and sacrifice.
