Police department honors fallen comrade by attending daughter's graduation


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PHOENIX — The daughter of a fallen Phoenix police officer got a show of support from the police force when her father couldn't make it.

Sunday, after stopping a DUI suspect, Officer Daryl Raetz was struck by another vehicle on the road. He was taken to the hospital, but died of his injuries. He had been a police officer for six years.

Wednesday, his daughter Tatum graduated from kindergarten. Since her father couldn't be there to watch the ceremony, the Phoenix Police Department and their families filled the room instead.

"We tried to keep this to Daryl's squad and his precinct, but the word got out that this was happening," they wrote on the department's Facebook page. "There was absolutely no way that you could keep officers who could be here away from here."

Afterward, hundreds of officers lined the sidewalk to welcome out "Little Raetz."

"She had 300, 400 parents up here for her this morning," Officer James Holmes told AZ Family. "It was absolutely amazing. It was bittersweet and it was a bit overwhelming for all of us."

The event touched not only Raetz' widow and young daughter, but the school and community.

"Thank you all for being there for Tatum and her family, and thank you for making the graduation special for the other children as well," wrote one mother, Crystal, to the police department.

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Celeste Tholen Rosenlof

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