INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Seven officers have been killed in the line of duty in the city of Independence.
Officer Blaize Madrid-Evans will be a new name joining the short list etched in stone on the Independence fallen officer's memorial, each representing a life taken away too soon.
"There’s not a lot of names on that memorial, and we like to keep it that way, and unfortunately that didn’t happen for us yesterday," said IPD spokesperson Jack Taylor.
It's a loss this department doesn’t encounter often.
"It’s a shock to the department, it's a shock to the officers that work here and everybody is just trying to work through it, figure out where we go from here," Taylor said.
Madrid-Evans was killed on Wednesday when he and another Independence officer responded to a call around 11:30 a.m. at a residence near East 23rd Street and Northern Boulevard, where they were met by a suspect who fired at the officers.
The department says they’re overwhelmed by the support from the community.
"We are a very special place compared to a lot of places through the nation, everybody rallies when bad things like this happen," said IPD Chief Brad Halsey.
Many blue ribbons are tied onto trees or around poles which officers say helps them heal during this tough time.
"That just helps us and that gives us the strength to be able to move forward and move past this tragedy and be able to do what we do," Taylor said.
Madrid-Evans will live on in others, being an organ donor, and will forever be remembered in this community.
His name will soon be carved in that stone outside the police department reserved for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
