Parrish is remembered as having police “calling”

The last hurdle to becoming a Castle Rock Police Department officer is to impress Chief Jack Cauley in an interview. Zackari Parrish nailed it. “He had a smile. A firm handshake,” Cauley said Thursday. “I could tell by his presence and see in his eyes he was excited to be here.”

Parrish had been working for Wells Fargo and serving as a reserve police officer in Morrison when he landed his first full-time job as a cop in 2015 in Castle Rock. He had left the financial field to fulfill his dream of being a police officer.

“It’s not real common for people to choose police work from that industry,” Cauley said. “I got the impression it was calling for him.”

On New Year’s Eve, Parrish, 29, died in a hail of gunfire at a Highlands Ranch apartment complex where he was in an apartment trying to negotiate with a man who was in the throes of a mental health crisis.

The funeral for Parrish, who left Castle Rock seven months ago to join Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, will be held Friday morning.

The grief Thursday at the Castle Rock Police Department headquarters was intense as Cauley and other officers prepared for the funeral. With 75 officers and about 25 staff members, it is a department where everyone knows each other well. And Parrish had become a beloved member of the team during his two and a half years there.

The pain was intensified because another Castle Rock officer, Tom O’Donnell, was a member of the SWAT unit that tried to rescue Parrish and confronted the shooter inside the apartment.

O’Donnell suffered minor leg injuries, probably from bullet fragments, as he and other officers made their way into the apartment. He was treated and released at a hospital Sunday and has been cleared by doctors to return to work, Cauley said.

However, O’Donnell’s return has not been cleared by the chief because of the emotional trauma involved.

In his more than two years in Castle Rock, Parrish had endeared himself to co-workers and the community through his “huge sense of humor” and positive attitude, Cauley said.

The decision to move to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was based on family, Cauley said. The chief tried to talk Parrish out of leaving, but the young officer, who was married with two daughters, chose a job where he wouldn’t be required to drive so far between home and work.

“I would consider Zack to be a role model officer who had the ability to connect with others,” Cauley said. “He was able to serve the community by connecting with individuals one-onone. That’s important for police to do.”

Parrish’s funeral will be held 11 a.m. Friday at Cherry Hills Community Church, 3900 Grace Boulevard in Highlands Ranch. A police motorcade will follow the family procession from Plum Creek Parkway onto Interstate 25 north in Castle Rock at 8:45 a.m.

The motorcade will cause traffic closures on northbound I-25 between Plum Creek and Lincoln Avenue, starting at 8:30 a.m. Parking is not allowed on the interstate, but those who want to observe the motorcade are asked to use sidewalks on Lincoln Avenue and South University Boulevard.

The sheriff’s office asks that memorial donations be made to its fallen officer fund at dcsheriff.net/fallenofficer-fund/.