ODESSA, Mo. — Family, friends, law enforcement officers and many others gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil in honor of fallen Independence Officer Cody Allen.
Allen was shot and killed Thursday while responding to help Jackson County process servers who were serving an eviction at a house in rural Independence, Missouri.
Drexel Mack, a Jackson County process server, was also shot and killed that day. Two other police officers were injured.
During the candlelight vigil Sunday in Allen’s hometown of Odessa, family, friends and colleagues spoke about the impact Allen had on the people around him and the law enforcement community.
They also emphasized the importance of supporting his family through this unimaginable tragedy.
“I look at that young man and say he is the epitome of a police officer. He replicates what every one of us wants to be,” Lafayette County Sheriff Kerrick Alumbaugh said.
“The thing we really need to do in the coming weeks and months is concentrate on Cody’s family and how do we help them.”
Independence Police Chief Adam Dustman spoke about Allen’s heroic acts on that day and his dedication to serving his community.
“What I witnessed Thursday, there isn’t a word for it: heroism, bravery, courage,” Dustman said.
“Somebody told me Thursday afternoon that Cody was just being Cody, and I can tell you that nothing truer could be said,” Dustman said.
“As we go through the next week, it will be hard. Lean on each other. Our brothers and sisters in blue, all of the community support, support of emergency management and emergency services across this entire community, we are not in this alone.”
During the vigil, Allen’s father spoke about his son and the legacy he leaves behind.
His dad said Allen had wanted to be in law enforcement from a young age and that his dedication to service never wavered.
“(A coach) told me they called him the robot because however they told him to do something that is exactly how he did it. He wouldn’t veer. He would just do it the way he’s told,” Allen’s father said during the vigil.
“I’m sure when he ran into that house, he was only thinking about that man, and that was all he was thinking about.”
“I love my boy, and this is the hardest thing I have had to do,” Allen’s dad said during the vigil. “But I am very proud of the police department. People have no idea how good they are and what they do.”
