LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department escorted a boy to school on his first day after his father, their coworker, died from COVID-19.
Noah Swanger made quite the entrance at Steve Shore Elementary School. A motorcade of police vehicles accompanied the fourth-grader as he made his way to the school Monday, an honor he didn’t see coming.
“He just found out, we surprised him, and he was very surprised. It overwhelms him because he just, he appreciates it, and he just, it’s his, he has a lot of family and we have a lot of friends, but this is his connection to his dad on the police department, so it means a lot to him that they’re all here for him,” said Christa Swanger, Noah’s mother.
Noah’s father, Jason, passed away from COVID-19 just two months before. He was an officer with the police department’s Enterprise Area Command.
Jason’s coworkers say he was dedicated to his job.
“Every call that he went on was his most important call. He was thorough, he was caring, he had compassion for people on calls, and at the end of the shift, when we’re all ready to go, he’d be like, ‘I got to finish this call, I got to help this, you know, I got to help this person out,’” said Brennan Childers, a fellow LVMPD officer.
Childers says he’s happy to be able to support the Swanger family.
“Officer Swanger, Jason Swanger, he was really important to us and he was in our squad. He was in my academy, so known him about seven years. Really good guy, really good family and there’s nobody that looked up to him more than his son, and nobody I feel like he was closer with than his son. So, it was very, very touching since his passing. Our relationship with his family, and we, we’re just happy to come out here and be here for them," said Childers.
Christa says her husband’s Enterprise Area Command squad was the first squad he truly felt part of.
“It’s, you know, it’s hard to, there’s a lot of guys on there, a lot of different personalities, and I think this was the first squad he actually felt like he fit in and belonged,” said Christa.
Since her husband’s death, Christa says LVMPD officers have maintained a relationship with Noah and they’re helping him cope with the loss of his dad.
“I just want to tell them thank you to all Metro, but especially to Enterprise Area Command squad 24. They have been there through everything, and I know they will continue to be, and it really means a lot to my whole family, but especially Noah and myself, so we appreciate it,” said Christa.
It may not come as a surprise, but Noah says he wants to be a police officer like his dad when he’s older.
