Plans to honor the Fairway police officer who was fatally wounded in a shootout earlier this week were announced Thursday afternoon and include a parade of police cars, a candlelight vigil and funeral services.
Officer Jonah Oswald, 29, was wounded Sunday in a shootout involving suspects in a car theft during a QuikTrip in Mission. Oswald, a husband and father of two young children, died in a hospital on Monday. He had been with the Fairway Police Department for four years.
The Fairway Police Department invited the public to attend Friday’s events honoring Oswald, the first Fairway police officer to be killed in the line of duty.
Friday at 7:30 p.m., a Parade of Blue, consisting of police cars and other emergency vehicles, will begin making its way through Overland Park, Mission, Fairway, and Prairie Village.
The parade of police cars begins at the Shamrock Trading Corporation at 9300 Metcalf Avenue and heads north to Shawnee Mission Parkway. From there, the procession follows the Shawnee Mission Parkway east to Mission Road.
The police cars then head south to West 63rd Street, where they turn off and head west to Roe Avenue. The procession will then head south to West 75th Street, east to Mission Road, and then south to Harmon Park at 7700 Mission Road.
People who want to honor Oswald are encouraged to display blue colors at their homes and businesses and watch the parade of police vehicles from the sidewalk along the route.
Once all the parade vehicles have arrived at Harmon Park, a candlelight vigil is held near the skate park. The estimated time for the wake is between 9:00 PM and 9:30 PM
Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Westside Family Church, 8500 Woodsonia Drive in Lenexa. The funeral service will be held on Monday at 11 a.m. in the church.
After the service there will be a short ceremony outside the church.
The fatal shooting continues to be investigated by the Johnson County Officer-Involved Critical Incident Investigation Team, which is handling fatal use of force cases.
The shooting
The events leading up to the deadly gunfight began with reports of a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee on the QuikTrip near West 95th Street in Lenexa. While officers were investigating the theft, a woman driving the SUV reportedly rammed into a Lenexa police car and fled.
Lenexa police were pursuing the vehicle north on Interstate 35. When the SUV crashed on Lamar Avenue, a man and woman ran into the QuikTrip at 4700 Lamar Ave. in Mission, just west of Fairway. Officers, including Oswald, followed them inside.
Police have said Oswald was fatally wounded and the male suspect, Shannon Wayne Marshall, 40, of Ashland City, Tennessee, was killed in a gunfire.
Andrea Rene Cothran, 32, of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, has been charged with inflicting force on a law enforcement officer, fleeing or attempting to escape a police officer, and robbery, all felonies. She also faces a charge of reckless driving.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said those charges relate to the police pursuit. Prosecutors continue to evaluate the case to determine whether additional charges against Cothran are warranted. She was in Johnson County jail on $1 million bail on Thursday.
