Bothell Police Officer Jonathan Shoop was ‘a dedicated servant’

The Bothell Police Department lost an officer this week after he was shot following a chase that began when officers attempted to pull over a driver who refused to stop when ordered by police.

The suspect later exited their car exchanged fire with officers, before running on foot away from the scene. It was announced Friday after investigation that the bullet that killed officer Jonathan Shoop came from his partner’s firearm during crossfire with the suspect.

Dori called Captain Mike Johnson on Thursday to learn more about Officer Shoop. Too often we hear names, and then they’re quickly forgotten, Dori said, but it’s tougher to forget when you know the person behind the name.

Shoop had been with the department for a little over a year.

“I’ll start off by telling you we vet our new employees pretty seriously, and he stood out as a shining star right out of the gate from his interview panel all the way through his background,” Johnson said. “We were just really excited to be able to bring this young man on board.”

Shoop left a job in the tech industry because he had a desire to do something bigger than himself, Johnson said, and to be part of something that could impact the community.

“He was definitely a servant type officer,” he said. “He was compassionate and empathetic with people. He treated people the right way. And it’s just a big loss for our community, a big loss for our department, and a huge loss for his family.”

Prior to his job in the tech industry, Shoop served as a member of the Coast Guard.

“He loved doing that,” Johnson said. “He loved helping people and he loved, again, being part of something bigger than just one person. He was really a dedicated servant.”

Shoop is survived by his fiance, his mother, and two brothers.

“By all accounts, he was a good brother. I was speaking with his brothers this morning, and there’s some good stories, and anyone that has brothers can understand what that relationship is like and understand what his brothers are going through right now,” Johnson said. “… You always say it’s not easy having brothers — it’s really not easy losing a brother.”

Johnson said Shoop was a good friend, a good son, a good fiance, and a good brother.

“Just that salt-of-the-earth type of person,” he added.

Police officers often tend to have a relationship that feels similar to brothers and sisters, and Johnson said it really is a family-oriented job.

“These people are like brothers and sisters and there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do for one of them,” he said. “And when one goes down, it affects everybody. The outpouring of support we’ve gotten from all of our regional partners has been overwhelming. The support from our community — everybody recognizes the loss that Bothell suffered, not only our department, but our whole community.”

“This was a person with a very bright career. He was super smart, really good police instincts, really understood how to treat people,” he added. “And he was going to have a very bright future with our department and within this community, and everybody is just really mourning this loss right now.”

Johnson has worked in the Bothell Police Department for more than 25 years and hasn’t seen an officer from the department shot before.

“It’s one thing to say that it’s unexpected, but you always plan for these types of things. Every officer knows when you — it’s not exclusive of Bothell — every officer knows that when you go out and you put the vest on, the badge on, and you go out there in the community, anything can happen.”

While death in the line of duty is something they train for and prepare for, you’re never ready when it hits your organization, Johnson added.

Community mourns as memorial for Bothell officer continues to grow

Before and since this incident, Johnson says the Bothell Police Department has felt very blessed.

“Our community has been supporting us the last two or three months,” he said. “We’ve been getting a lot of cards, flowers, people dropping stuff off at the department before this incident, talking about supporting us and ‘don’t listen to the rhetoric,’ and a lot of our community members have been coming out and showing their support.”

Captain Johnson assured the department would post on social media as soon as they have a fundraiser for the Shoop family or have any details about a memorial service.

“We do know that people in Bothell want to show their compassion and their support for our organization,” he said. “The memorial that we have out front with a police car — I don’t know if your listeners have seen the photo of what happened out there, but it’s humbling.”

“My window overlooks the courtyard where the car is and it’s just a nonstop wave of people coming in to show support … and we’ve spoke to people out there who said I drove two hours to get here, I brought my young children down to show them how important this is. … When you’re out there interacting with folks, it’s just very humbling. And so we do feel very blessed here.”

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.