Hundreds of Phoenix police officers showed their support for a fallen colleague by attending his daughter’s kindergarten graduation in Anthem on Wednesday.
Officer Daryl Raetz was killed in the line of duty while working the scene of a DUI arrest near 51st Avenue and Cambridge early Sunday morning. Raetz, 29, an Iraq war veteran, joined the Phoenix Police Department on June 8, 2007.
Phoenix police officers, showing how much the Raetz family means to them, greeted a motorcade at the school carrying 5-year-old Tatum Raetz.
“The purpose of us is to be here in proxy for Daryl and to let her know that we’re here for her,” said Phoenix police Officer Keith Garn.
Uniformed officers three deep lined the walls of the room where Ridgeline Academy held the ceremony.