‘Never be forgotten’: Hundreds honor fallen North Kansas City Officer Daniel Vasquez

Hundreds of family, friends and community members gathered Wednesday morning at Vineyard Church to lay North Kansas City police Officer Daniel Vasquez to rest.

They honored Vasquez, the officer who was fatally shot July 19 during a traffic stop, with a funeral service and procession that ran from the North Kansas City church to White Chapel Memorial Gardens.

“Being a police officer was his dream job,” North Kansas City Police Chief Kevin Freeman said during the funeral. “Daniel put service for others above himself and his service to our community will never be forgotten. Together we will stand against this unnecessary violence.”

Vasquez was a “shining star” for the North Kansas City Police Department and had a bright future ahead of him, Freeman said.

“He was born to be a servant and protector of his community,” he said.

When Vasquez was hired by the North Kansas City Police Department, he was “over the top excited,” said Officer Steve Emmons.

“I was excited for him and I gave him a few pointers for the academy,” Emmons said. “Some of those pointers were to avoid the drama and don’t go looking for love among your classmates.”

He succeeded with the first half of the advice, Emmons said, but Vasquez eventually brought home a woman.

“He introduced me to her and I quickly found out that not only were they in the academy together, but they worked at the same department,” Emmons said. “I laughed at them, called them dummies and accepted their relationship.”

It wasn’t long before Emmons realized they were serious and that Vasquez was in love with her.

While the funeral was underway, crowds gathered along Shoal Creek Parkway in Kansas City, North, and waited for the procession to begin. A fire truck draped a large American flag from its ladder above an overpass along the procession route. Passersby honked their horns in support of the fallen officer as they passed below.

“His family, friends, co-workers, Law Enforcement Family, and the community have lost a loving and respectable community servant who will be missed beyond measure,” his parents, siblings and fiancee wrote in his obituary.

As the procession made its way to White Chapel Memorial Gardens, people lined the route. Some raised and waved American flags. Meanwhile, drivers pulled over at the exits and along the side of the road to watch.

Barbara Ralston arrived at the parkway early to hold a Blue Lives Matter flag above the overpass. Her son, an officer in the Kansas City Police Department, was part of the procession, she said. Her husband, son and daughter-in-law attended a public visitation Tuesday night, where community members and law enforcement officers passed a casket draped with an American flag and a portrait of Vasquez in his police uniform.

“It hits close to home,” she said of Vasquez’s death.

Gus and Cathy Vandepopulier talked about the lives that have been impacted by the killing — Vasquez’s family, friends and the community as a whole — and knew they wanted to show support at the procession. They walked to the overpass from their home about an hour before it began to make sure they didn’t miss anything.

“It was such an awful tragedy,” Cathy Vandepopulier said. “It was senseless.”

Between homicides like Vasquez’s death and school shootings, Gus Vandepopulier said it seems like gun-related deaths and violence are increasing across the country. He said the problem didn’t seem as prominent a few generations ago.

“You wonder why these things happen,” he said.

Vasquez served in various security and law enforcement positions around the city before joining the North Kansas City Police Department. He worked in security positions in Jackson and Wyandotte counties and served as an “Avenue Angel” to protect businesses and citizens, according to his obituary.

He joined the Kansas City Police Department as a detention officer from March 2019 to July 2020 before becoming a recruit with the North Kansas City Police Department in January 2021. Six months later, Vasquez was promoted to full officer after graduating from the Regional Police Academy.

Vasquez is survived by his fiancé Katie Filger, his parents Francisco Vasquez Hernandez and Guadalupe Nunez De Vasquez; sisters Areli Vasquez Nunez and Eunice Zuniga and brother-in-law Luis A. Zuniga Matute.

Officials allege Joshua Rocha, 24, confessed to the killing and said he shot the officer because he didn’t want to go to jail or lose his car. Rocha has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action and is being held in Clay County jail on $2 million bail.