This story was updated at 3:40 p.m. to include additional details.
Thousands of community members and city leaders joined families and law enforcement officials in Kansas City, Kansas, on Thursday morning for the funeral of two Wyandotte County sheriff's deputies killed in the line of duty.
At the ceremony at Children's Mercy Park, Wyandotte County Sheriff Don Ash eulogized Theresa King and Patrick Rohrer.
"They died rare and precious people," Ash said.
King and Rohrer were shot Friday behind the Wyandotte County Courthouse during an inmate transfer. They both later died from their injuries. King was 44. Rohrer was 35. The suspect is in custody, but no charges have been filed.
"Theresa King and Patrick Rohrer literally put their lives between a cold-blooded kill and the citizens they swore an oath to protect," Ash said in his eulogy.Rohrer’s friends said he was a “kind-hearted, jokester-geek” who loved science fiction movies, going to Comicon, playing video games and spending time with his wife and two children.
"Throughout the chaos of life, Pat was a rock," Matt Williams said. "He was the greatest man I've ever known."
Theresa King's 21-year-old daughter, Bailey, honored her mother's memory at the ceremony.
"You have always been our biggest hero," she said.
She said her mom was the"goofiest, silliest, most fun-loving woman" she had ever known. Then she spoke to her mom directly.“I know being a single mom wasn’t easy. And I know working 80 hours was never ideal, but at the end of the day you still came home,” she said. “You still made us dinner. You still took care of us. You did what needed to be done to make sure that we were taken care of and I’m sorry we didn’t always see that.”
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story included the name of a suspect. Because no charges have been filed, KCUR has removed the name.
KCUR health reporter Alex Smith and intern Aviva Okeson-Haberman contributed to this report.
Andrea Tudhope is a reporter for KCUR 89.3. Email her at andreat@kcur.org, and follow her on Twitter @_tudhope.
Copyright 2018 KCUR 89.3
