Memorial in Everett for officer killed in line of duty

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A procession and memorial service was held Monday for Everett, Washington, police officer Dan Rocha, who was fatally shot while confronting a suspect in a parking lot late last month.

The memorial service for Rocha, 41, was held at Everett’s Angel of the Winds Arena. Rocha started working for the city of Everett as a parking enforcement officer in 2017, and became a fully commissioned police officer in 2018. He is survived by a wife and two sons, police said.

During the memorial Mayor Cassie Franklin said she had struggled to find the right words, the Daily Herald reported.

“This tragedy has shaken our community to its core,” she said.

Authorities said Rocha was shot in the head at least twice after he and suspect Richard Rotter got into an altercation in the parking lot of a Starbucks on March 25. The shooter fled in a car. Police arrested Rotter, of Kennewick, following a three-vehicle crash about two miles away.

KOMO reports Rotter, who has a lengthy criminal history, was the subject of a suspicious persons call and prosecutors said Rocha saw him transferring guns from one car to another.

Rotter, 50, has been charged with first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the officer’s death and is being held at the Snohomish County Jail in lieu of a $5 million bond.