23-year-old Overland Park police officer dies of COVID after long hospitalization
Overland Park KS Sept 2 2021
Freddie Castro, a 23-year-old Overland Park police officer, died Tuesday afternoon of COVID-19 in North Kansas City Hospital after he had spent weeks there with severe illness, police officials and family said.
Overland Park Police Chief Frank Donchez shared the news outside of the hospital, where many fellow officers were gathered, saying the department is mourning the loss of “a bright young man” with a great future ahead of him.
“He always has a smile on his face, because he loved what he was doing,” the chief said, speaking to reporters Tuesday night. “He loved being a police officer. He couldn’t wait to be one, he loved being one, and it just breaks my heart to have to come and tell you that (Castro) has passed today at the young age of 23.”
In recent days, as Castro remained on a ventilator, Donchez said he and others with the department maintained hope that Castro would be able to pull through. But he said the death of a young man demonstrates that “this virus is unpredictable.”
Castro joined the police department in March 2019. Before becoming a sworn officer, he worked with the department’s motorist assist unit and was the recipient of many commendations for his work in that role, the chief said.
John Fierro, Castro’s uncle, said Tuesday that his nephew always dreamed of becoming a police officer. He worked as a security guard with Worlds of Fun in his younger years. The family was tremendously proud when he graduated from the police academy, Fierro said.
Fierro said his nephew was at a point where he had achieved everything he wanted thus far in his career. He aspired to one day become a sheriff, he said. And his family wants people to remember Castro as a “fighter.” He was in the hospital for 37 days.
“This virus is not to be taken lightly,” Fierro said. “And so we’re all sad, obviously, his mom and his family and all of us will miss him. He had so much more to give.”
Castro began experiencing cold- and pneumonia-like symptoms in mid-July, according to a Facebook message posted Friday by the Overland Park Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 21.
According to the police lodge, Castro’s condition worsened after he was admitted to the hospital for COVID complications and pneumonia. Castro was moved to ICU and placed on a ventilator, but he continued to get worse, suffering multiple heart attacks and strokes.
The death is the department’s second over the past 16 months. Officer Mike Mosher was shot and killed during an armed encounter in May 2020.
A convoy of police vehicles, led by motorcycles, escorted Castro’s body an Overland Park funeral home with emergency lights flashing Tuesday night.
