Mourners pay tribute to Knox
HPD to retire his badge number as colleagues remember his smile, service, love of history
Straight-faced and without hesitation, Jason Knox declared during his 2011 Houston Police Department interview that he wanted to fly helicopters.
Footage from Knox’s 2011 interview — when he was a Spring Valley Police Department officer — played as scores of mourners watched Saturday at the First Baptist Church. Knox, 35, was killed May 2 in when his HPD helicopter crashed into an apartment complex.
“I do understand the waitlist is long, but I don’t mind putting in the time as a patrol officer,” he told the interviewer.
The video was among the memories shared that displayed Knox’s determination to succeed as a police officer and his willingness to put in the work to get there. His fellow officers remembered his dedication to the job, the security they felt when he was backing them up from above, and the friendship he shared with them.
Chief Art Acevedo, who introduced the video, wiped away tears during his tribute.
The job interview was the only time he could remember seeing Knox without a smile.
Knox would go on to serve HPD for eight years. In January 2019, he joined the Air & Marine Division as a tactical flight officer, meaning he served as the eyes for officers on the ground as another officer piloted the aircraft. He was slated to start training as a pilot in August.
The service lasted three hours and ended with a 21-gun salute and Acevedo handing three folded flags to Knox’s tearful widow, Keira, and their two children, Cooper and Eliza. Another flag was given to Knox’s parents, Helen and Mike, a member of Houston City Council.
Knox’s son was given his father’s helicopter helmet and the boy wasted no time trying to put it on. The fallen officer’s daughter pointed to an Oilers-blue police cruiser parked nearby and cried out, “That’s daddy’s car!”
Service streamed online
Because of protocol during this novel coronavirus pandemic, attendees — except for the Knox family — were spaced out in the church. The memorial service was streamed online to encourage social distancing, according to officials.
Scores of mask-wearing Houston police officers who knew Knox offered their memories during the service.
Senior Police Officer Michael Bruner recalled visiting the hospital when Knox’s son was born. Their families would vacation together and the two dreamed of being neighbors.
He pledged to help Knox’s wife raise the fallen officer’s children “to the caliber of kids that their dad would want.”
“I considered Jason my brother,” Bruner said. “I will miss him. I will mourn him. I will not forget him.”
Officer Ryan Sandoval, a member of Knox’s cadet class, stood out in his old light-blue dress shirt amid a sea of navy uniforms. He said he wore his first uniform to pay tribute to the officer’s love for history.
Knox’s passion took shape in restoring retro police vehicles — a ’96 and ’88 Chevrolet Caprice — and his night shift crew would playfully tease him for it.
Sgt. Mike Burton, one of Knox’s supervisors, said they called him Sham-Wow, for the absorbent towel.
“He’d wipe down the helicopters with the same shammy cloths he used on his cars,” Burton said, adding that this ritual would happen after every flight.
His work in the cockpit was also remembered.
Paul Foster, a member of HPD’s K-9 unit, said he felt safer with Knox flying above him.
“They see what we can’t,” Foster said. “With Jason in the sky, I personally was given an extra sense of security, a comfort.”
Burton said Knox was one of their best. He once sighted a wanted suspect who was hiding in a swamp. The officers couldn’t find him because he was partially submerged — except for his nose.
Burton referred Knox for two commendations in the past six months.
Acevedo also commended Knox for saving lives. As Tropical Storm Imelda pounded the Houston area last September, he was dispatched to look for a Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy whose van was swept away.
He was “clinging to life and was barely hanging on,” Acevedo said.
“We were losing hope,” the chief continued. “Jason Michael Knox, from whatever feet he was, spotted that deputy and we were able to bring in boats to rescue him.”
Last month, Knox was slated to receive a lifesaver award, but the ceremony was canceled amid the growing coronavirus pandemic, Acevedo said.
Acevedo plans to name a new helicopter for Knox and to retire his badge number, 2374. It could one day resurface, the chief said, if one of his children decides to join the police department.
Investigation continues
The funeral came one week following the fatal crash at a Greenspoint apartment complex. Knox and his pilot, Chase Cormier, were searching a nearby bayou for a possible drowning victim but found nothing.
As the two-man crew was called off the search, the helicopter started spinning uncontrollably and plunged into a building. Cormier survived and is undergoing rehabilitation.
Acevedo choked up as he walked mourners through his response to the crash. He received the phone call and quickly drove — but not as fast as he wanted — to the wreckage.
The area was covered in fuel and not one firefighter was dousing the fuel with foam. The crews were instead focused on trying desperately to save Knox, he continued.
The cause of the crash is not yet known, but local and federal authorities continue to investigate what happened. Gunfire that erupted near the time of the crash is being looked at as a possible factor in why the aircraft went down but no evidence has been found.
A 19-year-old man was charged Friday with two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant in connection to gunfire that was fired at a HPD helicopter that responded to the crash, officials said.
The helicopter was flying low and had a spotlight on the wreckage, said Sean Teare, of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
“At this time, we don’t believe he fired at FOX 75,” Teare said. “That investigation is still ongoing.”
The helicopter fleet was temporarily grounded after the crash. Acevedo approved three HPD pilots to fly once more with a missing man formation to honor their co-worker during the service.