The organs from a second Missouri police officer who died as a result of a shooting on Tuesday will be donated.
The Joplin Police Department said in a Facebook statement on Saturday morning that the organs of 27-year-old Jake Reed, an officer with the department, were taken to the airport to be “flown across the country” in order to provide others with the chance to live. Reed died Tuesday after being hospitalized from a shooting in Joplin.
“The department escorted Jake’s body to the funeral home past many citizens who exited their vehicles in the roadway and held hands over hearts or saluted us as we passed,” the JPD said in the Facebook post.
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Reed began his career with the JPD in 2017 and had served as a member of the patrol division, according to a statement on the police department’s website. “We are so proud, so thankful and forever in debt for his service to this community.”
“May God and our community be with Officer Reeds family and the recipients of his gifts of life last night,” the police department said.
Officers from the JPD arrived at a local shopping center after receiving a report for a disturbance, where they encountered the suspect and exchanged fire, police said.
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“He was always smiling and laughing,” Reed’s baseball coach from Bentonville High School, Todd Abbott said, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “The smile … that’s what stands out to me the most. Seeing that smile of his.”
Reed is survived by his wife, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
The page lists 72 police officers who died in the line of duty.
