Candlelight vigil, funeral services planned to honor Fairway officer killed in shootout
Plans to honor the Fairway police officer who was fatally wounded in a shootout earlier this week were announced Thursday afternoon, and will include a parade of police cars, a candlelight vigil and funeral services.
Officer Jonah Oswald, 29, was injured Sunday in a shootout involving suspects in an auto theft at a QuikTrip in Mission. Oswald, a husband and a father of two young children, died Monday at a hospital. He had been with the Fairway Police Department for four years.
The Fairway Police Department invited the public to attend the events Friday to honor Oswald, the first Fairway police officer to be killed in the line of duty.
Beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday, a Parade of Blue consisting of police cars and other emergency vehicles will wind its way through Overland Park, Mission, Fairway and Prairie Village.
The parade of police cars will start at the Shamrock Trading Corporation at 9300 Metcalf Avenue, and will head north to Shawnee Mission Parkway. From there, the procession will follow Shawnee Mission Parkway east to Mission Road.
The police cars will then head south to West 63rd Street, where they will turn 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 wishing to honor Oswald are encouraged to display blue colors at their homes and business and to view the parade of police vehicles from the sidewalk along the route.
Once all the parade vehicles have arrived at Harmon Park, a candlelight vigil will take place near the skate park. The estimated time for the vigil is between 9 and 9:30 p.m.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Westside Family Church, 8500 Woodsonia Drive in Lenexa. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at the church.
Following the services, there will be a short ceremony held outside the church.
The fatal shooting remains under investigation by the Johnson County Officer-Involved Critical Incident Investigation Team, which handles deadly use-of-force cases.
The shootout
The events that led up to deadly shootout began with reports of a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee at the QuikTrip near West 95th Street in Lenexa. As officers were investigating the theft, a woman driving the SUV allegedly rammed a Lenexa police cruiser and fled.
Lenexa police chased the vehicle north on Interstate 35. When the SUV crashed at Lamar Avenue, a man and woman ran into the QuikTrip at 4700 Lamar Ave. in Mission, just west of Fairway. Officers, including Oswald, following them inside.
Police have said Oswald was fatally wounded and the male suspect, Shannon Wayne Marshall, 40, of Ashland City, Tennessee, was killed during an exchange of gunfire.
Andrea Rene Cothran, 32, of Goodlettsville, Tennessee has been charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and theft, all felonies. She also faces a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said those charges pertain to the police chase. Prosecutors continue to evaluate the case to determine whether any additional charges against Cothran are warranted. She remained in the Johnson County jail on Thursday on a $1 million bond.
