By Alec Dietz | Lynnwood Times Staff
Speaking to a limited live audience and broadcast to a few hundred over livestream, members of fallen Police Officer Jonathan Shoop’s family and community spoke at his memorial service Tuesday in Bothell.
Officer Shoop died by gunshot in the crossfire of his partner after a man opened fire on their patrol vehicle while fleeing from a traffic stop on July 13.
Older brothers Jared and Evan Shoop, close friends, and fellow officers who worked at Bothell were the featured speakers, and each shared stories and insights into Officer Jonathan Shoop’s life.
Older brother Jared shared that Jonathan skipped a lot as a kid, and despite losing his father two days after his eighth birthday, showed a strong sense of resilience growing up.
“Jonathan never stopped skipping as an adult,” older brother Jared said. “If you watched him walk, every so often you would notice an intentional skip instead of a step.
“My brother lived in humility.”
A life student, Officer Shoop lived out many careers, including at Fred Meyer, serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, and spending five years with a high-paying job at Amazon before being called back to service as a police officer.
A graduate of Ballard High School and the University of
Washington, Jonathan was a big Huskies fan. Jared revealed that it was at the
Rose Bowl in 2019, a matchup between his Huskies and the Ohio State Buckeyes,
that Jonathan decided to walk away from the safety of a high-paying tech job to
pursue a career in policing.
“Reserved, patient, quietly strong, resilient,” older brother Evan said, describing Jonathan. “He’s just so remarkably steady and consistent.”
Officer Shoop’s patrol officer and close squad mates at the Bothell Police Department said that he was a “perfect fit for Bothell” when he was hired in June of 2019.
In only a year of service in Bothell, Shoop made a name for himself in his community and among his peers as a deeply compassionate and motivated officer. Older brother Jared shared that Jonathan would give people he pulled over without proof of insurance three days to submit it to him online, with 100% success. According to his brother, Jonathan would often say that he would rather people have money to pay for insurance than for a ticket.
Shoop is survived by his two brothers, his mother, and his girlfriend.
Tearing up as he neared the end of his speech, older brother Evan shared that above all, with the political climate and discussion around policing, Jonathan’s death is a devastating loss for his family and loved ones.
“What a massive, massive loss for us,” he said. “He was, plainly put, the future of our family. And it was supposed to be his time to buy a home, start a career, receive endless pressure from us brothers to have kids. I mean we were excited, you know? We grieve all the things that Johnny was to us, and we grieve the future that we will never know. I grieve all of the beautiful possibilities. It makes you mad, you know. It makes me mad.”
The live stream can be replayed at this link for viewing: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=584576762178419
Author: Alec Dietz
