EVERETT—Two years ago on March 25, 2022, Officer Dan Rocha, 41, was shot and killed by Richard James Rotter following gunfire in a Starbucks parking lot across the street from the Everett Community College campus. Rotter was found guilty of aggregated first-degree murder on Monday, April 3, 2023, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In a statement released on Facebook, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin asks residents to “keep Dan’s family and our officers in your thoughts on this difficult day.”
“It has been two years since we lost Officer Dan Rocha,” wrote Mayor Franklin. “Dan was killed by a dangerous individual in broad daylight by Starbucks in North Everett. This tragic loss is still felt by our community, Dan’s loved ones and his Everett Police Department family.”
On October 24, 2023, the City of Everett unveiled Officer Dan Rocha Way, renaming a road on 10th Street near the Starbucks parking lot where Rocha was killed, as a “lasting testament to Dan’s selfless dedication to our community and a reminder of the sacrifices made by our first responders every day,” Mayor Franklin added.
On February 28, 2023, Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) honored fallen Everett Police Officer Dan Rocha, 41, during a full House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee hearing.
“Officer Dan Rocha was dedicated to keeping Everett safe,” said Larsen, the lead Democrat on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. “On the day he passed, he was doing the job he loved – serving and protecting his community. I know the women and men of the Everett Police Department will continue to carry on Officer Rocha’s legacy by upholding the Department’s commitment to service, integrity, professionalism and honor.”
During that House hearing, Committee members unanimously approved a bipartisan resolution to authorize the use of U.S. Capitol grounds for the 42nd annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service in May. The service, which is hosted by the Fraternal Order of Police, will honors federal, state and local law enforcement officers who lost their lives while performing their duties the previous year.
Officer Rocha, along with 555 other fallen officers, were honored during the 35th Annual Candlelight Vigil held on Saturday, May 13, 2023, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Officer Daniel Rocha, along with the names of Thomas Wray and Jordan Jackson of Bellevue PD, Daryl Shuey and Dominique Calata of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Donald Sahota of Vancouver PD, and Darryl Goodrich, Jr. of the Department of Corrections, were read for the State of Washington.
Preceding Officer Rocha’s memorial service on April 4, 2022, was a procession of officers who marched from the Everett Mall toward the downtown venue as public onlookers lining Everett Mall Way waved both U.S. and thin blue line flags. The hurst carrying Officer Rocha’s body drove under a giant garrison flag suspended by two fire truck ladders at Rockefeller and Hewett avenues.
On April 11, 2022, The Snohomish County Council unanimously passed a resolution honoring Rocha’s life and service.
In November of that year, the City of Stanwood designated two streets in Officer Rocha’s memory. His wife, Kelli, worked with the City’s Adopt-A-Street Litter Control Program to honor him and the ultimate sacrifice he made protecting and serving the citizens of Everett.
The two streets in Stanwood dedicated to the memory of Officer Rocha are:
- At the corner of 270th St NW & 271st St NW, next to the Stanwood Café, and
- On 102nd Ave NW facing north, just north of Stanwood Elementary School.
Officer Rocha left behind his wife Kelli, sons Thomas and Harrison, fathers Charlie Rocha and Mike Lee, sisters Morgen Henry and Rae Ann Hismiogullari, sister-in-law Maggy Palos and brother-in-law Matt Nicholas.
Author: Mario Lotmore
