Who was Daniel Vasquez?

Daniel Vasquez was a police officer who worked at the North Kansas City Police Department who died of injuries sustained after he was shot during a traffic stop. 

Upon being shot, Vasquez was taken by ambulance to the North Kansas City Hospital before being transferred by air to University of Kansas Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. 

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Vasquez had made the stop at around 10:40 in the morning near 21st Avenue and Clay Street in North Kansas City, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. He had stopped the driver of the car for having an expired temporary tag. Upon making the stop, the driver opened the door and fired upon Vasquez. 

Almost immediately, dispatchers sent out a description of the car, a gray Ford Taurus with an expired temp tag due in 2018. The driver of the car was described as a while male with brown hair. 

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The deceased police officer had joined the NKCPD in January 2021 as a recruit officer, and eventually was promoted to full office status after graduating from the Regional Police Academy in July that year. 

Before joining the NKCPD as a police officer, Vasquez worked as a security officer for the Independence Avenue Community Improvement District, where he was commended for his exemplary performance. In a report from Northeast News, Vasquez had received commendations from his employer and had asserted his desire to one day become a police officer.

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According to his police chief, Kevin Freeman the person who had shot Vasquez had been arrested after he turned himself in, although the police did not know what type of gun had been used during the shooting. 

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In a press conference called by Freeman, he referred to the deceased police officer as a “shining star” and that the department would be struggling for a while as their police officers come to term with the shooting. Vasquez was the first police officer to be killed in the line of duty in the North Kansas Police Department.