KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers parts of Johnson County, including Overland Park, Shawnee and Mission. If you have a story idea you’d like to share, email Alyssa at [email protected].
Following a shooting at a Mission QuikTrip on August 6, 2023, Fairway Ofc. Jonah Oswald succumbed to his injuries the following day.
He was 29 years old and had only served in the police force for four years.
Blue ribbons still hang around the trees all along the fairway.
This week, blue lights shine in many neighborhoods to honor Oswald.
Across state lines, you probably couldn’t find a police department that didn’t try in one way or another to be there for the officers and Oswald’s family.
“It became a citywide effort to support this very small police department,” said Danny Chavez, chief of the Lenexa Police Department. “From answering 911 calls, patrolling their streets, delivering messages, serving meals, and even planning the funeral and parade.”
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Although Oswald was not a member of the Westside Family Church, they made the building available to him for his services.
“Every seat in this North Sanctuary, which seats nearly 1,200, was filled with men and women who serve as first responders,” said Pastor Brad Norman.
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Services like Oswald’s have been held in the church several times.
“The loss of a brother, of a young life, of a young, budding life, of a man who had two little boys, that’s something you just have to think about. But also of someone who gave everything,” Norman said.
In Christian churches, people are wanted to accept an altar call, but not the call that Oswald had to follow.
“It was a very difficult, if not one of the most difficult, funerals I have ever attended or been involved in,” Norman said.
Chavez would agree with the pastor that love will show itself.
“Whether we knew an officer personally or not, for example Officer Oswald, not many, if any, of our officers knew him personally,” Chavez said. “Even though we work together in the same district, we all have a shared bond by wearing the badge.”
The Lenexa Police Department was involved in the same operation as Oswald.
Although they have never lost a loved one in the line of duty, they know that part of an officer’s job is to worry about whether he will make it home.
“No matter what call we go on or what traffic stop we perform, you never know what’s behind it,” he said.
If the blue lights and tape in Fairway tell you one thing, it’s that when officers have to respond to a call, the community will accept it.
“Today, on the one-year anniversary of his death, I and the rest of the Fairway Police Department and the City of Fairway pause to remember the sacrifice of Officer Jonah Oswald. We miss Jonah every day. It seems like only yesterday that you could hear his enthusiastic voice cracking jokes in the hallways of our station or see him waving to citizens while patrolling the streets of Fairway. Although Jonah is no longer here in person, his spirit lives on in the men and women of our police department.
Jonah believed in service and selflessness, and we will carry that legacy forever in Jonah’s honor. On this difficult anniversary, I also want to remember those closest to Jonah, including his wife, two young children, and his parents. Their grief remains immeasurable, but we will always be here for them and consider them part of our family.
I would also like to thank the countless people who have supported us and Jonah’s family over the past year. Words alone cannot express how much that support has meant to us and how it has helped us grieve and process the darkest days of Jonah’s absence. We are forever grateful.”
Fairway Police Chief JP Thurlo
