DALLAS — With Frederick Bishop and Ken Frazier there’s no shortage of high praises for fallen Dallas Police Officer Darron Burks.
Officer Burks was sitting in his squad car in between calls Thursday night when a suspect walked up and shot him, DPD said.
“Burks was a great person, not only a good brother, a law enforcement officer that loved to serve the community, but he was a good person,” Frazier said.
They’ve both known Burks for more than 20 years since back when they all became members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. at Paul Quinn University.
“His line name is Pure Dawg and that's for a reason, because everything he did in life, he tried to do it the right way,” Frazier said.
They say he had a calm demeanor that he only broke away from when he was strolling on the dance floor.
“When we play a particular song, the Atomic Dog, he'll set out a hop and everything because he's good at it - I mean, very good at it,” said Frazier.
Burks turned 46 earlier this month. He wasn’t married and didn’t have any kids, but instead prided himself as a community servant. His frat brothers say he didn’t smoke or drink and hardly said bad words.
Burks spent years as a math teacher and a basketball coach, before deciding he needed to do something more fulfilling. That's when he reached out to his frat brothers when he set out to become a cop. Burks told them some of the disruptive children in his classroom were facing horrible circumstances in their communities. They said Burks felt as if God was calling him to serve in a different way.
“Two years ago, at (Paul Quinn) homecoming. He talked to me and we called the Sergeant like ‘Hey, he wants to apply for the Police Department,’” Bishop said.
Bishop is a former Dallas Police detective. He and Frazier helped Burks prepare for the job and they gave him this message when he took his oath of honor.
“Just be mindful. Stay alert. Stay alive,” Frazier said.
They’re words that sit heavy on their hearts now.
“An innocent officer who's out carrying out his civic duty on a day-to-day basis, actually to serve and protect you in your community. And you just take it upon yourself to just any in this life for no reason, unprovoked. That's it's ridiculous,” Frazier said.
This is the first officer to die in the line of duty who graduated from the academy under Police Chief Eddie Garcia, according to DPD.
"Her son will be remembered as a hero," Chief Garcia vowed to Burks' mother.
A celebration of life will be held Saturday, Sept. 7 at Watermark Church in Dallas.