On Birthday Of Fallen Dallas Officer Patrick Zamarripa, Brother Says: 'We Try Every Day To Keep His Memory Alive'
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Fallen Dallas Police Officer Patrick Zamarripa would have turned 36 on Thursday, but instead his family is celebrating his memory.
Zamarripa is one of five officers killed in the July 2016 police ambush.
A day after the Philadelphia shooting that left six officers wounded, Zamarripa's family says the violence has to stop.
Carlos Zamarripa, Patrick's brother, said he couldn't bring himself watch the coverage of what happened there too closely.
"The grief, the loss, the shock... all of that kind of plays on you.. and it really reopens those wounds," he said. "My family, we went through something tragic and the whole nation saw it. We don't want people to experience what we had to experience."
On what would have been Patrick's 36th birthday, Carlos said, "We try every day to try and keep his memory alive.. not only for him, but for his daughter and his stepson."
Carlos says he wants to tell the country - when it comes to gun violence, especially against police officers, we need to do better.
"We have to stick together and show that these officers deserve a chance to go home every day and hug their family like anybody else"
Carlos said, for those dealing with pain this kind of pain, don't be afraid to reach out to other resources for help. That's what he did.
He says sometimes just talking to someone about what you're going through can make a big difference.
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