Fallen North Kansas City police officer to receive Missouri honor

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A North Kansas City police officer, shot and killed in the line of duty will be honored for his heroism.

Officer Daniel Vasquez will receive the Red, White, and Blue Heart Award during a ceremony Thursday afternoon.

Vasquez was shot and killed in July 2022, while conducting a traffic stop. The shooting came a year after his graduation from the Regional Police Academy. Before joining the North Kansas City Police Department he was briefly a detention officer with the Kansas City Missouri Police Department.

Vasquez’s death marked the first time an officer from the North Kansas City Police Department died in the line of duty.

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Joshua Rocha, a 24-year-old Kansas City man, was indicted by a Clay County grand jury on one count of first-degree murder and one count of armed criminal action. His trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 29, 2025.

The Red, White, and Blue Heart Award can be presented to any first responder who is injured or killed while in the line of duty. It was first awarded to fallen Independence police officer Blaize Madrid-Evans on Sept. 7, 2022.

Madrid-Evans, 22, was shot and killed in 2021 when he responded to call about a man wanted for aggravated assault. The suspect shot and killed Madrid-Evans. Another officer shot and killed the gunman.

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