PROVO Utah (ABC4 News) – Law enforcement officers around the state, especially those with the Provo Police Department are remembering the officer killed in a shooting in Orem as a great husband, father and exceptional police officer.
Chief Richard Ferguson, Provo City Police, said Officer Joseph Shinners, 29, leaves behind a wife and a one-year-old son.
“Mostly I just want Kaylyn to know that right now the citizens of Provo stand with you. To all your family, on both your side and Joe’s side, I’m so terribly, terribly sorry,” says Provo Mayor Michelle Kafusi.
He is originally from Boston, Massachusetts, where his brother is currently a police officer and his father was a firefighter. Making public service part of his DNA.
Shinners was a three year veteran of the department assigned to the patrol division and was a member of the SWAT team.
Chief Ferguson said Shinners was the type of officer who would give a suspect a hug after making an arrest. Their department is devastated by the loss of their fallen brother. “He was the very best of the Provo Police Department,” Freguson says.
“Joe Shinners was intelligent, he was honorable, he was hard-working,” said Chief Ferguson. “He was decent in every single way, and he exemplified the nobility of policing. He was the very best of the Provo Police Department.”
Chief Ferguson also announced today that he is giving Officer Shinners a posthumous promotion to the rank of Master Officer, he says he earned it through is service to the department.
The tragedy has shaken a community and we here at ABC4 send our deepest condolences to the family and his friends and colleagues.
Click here for a GoFundMe account created for the Shinners family.
