HOUSTON – Houston police commanders and officers escorted the body of fallen Officer Jason Knox from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences building at 1861 Old Spanish Trail to the Pat H. Foley & Company Funeral Home at 1200 West 34th Street.
Officers and other first responders stood at attention as Knox’s body was loaded onto a waiting ambulance. Traffic was blocked on streets and freeways as the ambulance was escorted to the funeral home.
SKY 2 is following a law enforcement procession that is escorting the body of fallen HPD Officer Jason Knox through Houston this morning.
Posted by KPRC2 / Click2Houston on Monday, May 4, 2020
Houston police said the planned route for the escort, which starts at 10:30 a.m., will be:
On Saturday at about 2:05 a.m., police said Officer Knox and Senior Police Officer Chase Cormier were responding to a reported drowning in the 17000 block of Imperial Valley Drive.
While flying in HPD helicopter 8375F, they were assisting patrol officers by checking the nearby bayou. After clearing from that call, the helicopter had an undetermined issue and crashed into an apartment complex leasing office. Police said both the pilot, Senior Police Officer Chase Cormier, and the Tactical Flight Officer, Jason Knox, were severely injured and transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where Knox was pronounced dead. Cormier remains hospitalized.
Knox joined the department in June 2012, officials said. He was assigned to the Midwest Patrol Division and the Office of Public Affairs before joining the Air & Marine Division in January 2019, according to HPD.
Knox is being remembered as a “kind, gentle, generous and an honorable American.”
Knox started his law enforcement career with Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Office in August 2006 before joining the Spring Valley Police Department in September 2008.
In December 2011, he enrolled in the Houston Police Department Training Academy.
“Our hearts are broken after the loss of an amazing officer,” HPD Chief Art Acevedo wrote on Twitter. “He was a great husband, father, son and friend. Above all else, he was kind, gentle, generous and an honorable American. Our hearts go out to his family, and all that knew and loved him. We pray for God’s comfort."
Knox was the son of Houston City Council Member At-Large No. 1 Mike Knox, while his wife, Keira, worked as a Cy-Fair Fire Department dispatcher. The couple shared two young children.
To donate to the Knox family, visit assisttheofficer.com.