The son of a fallen Utah police officer was escorted to his first day of kindergarten by his mother and a group of what the South Salt Lake Police Department calls “fill-in ‘Dads'” who stood in for his father. Jackson Romrell was pictured holding his mother’s hand as they walked with a group of uniformed South Salt Lake Police officers and Police Chief Jack Carruth to the school building.

Jackson was only 4 months old when his father, South Salt Lake Police Officer David Romrell, was killed in November 2018. The South Salt Lake website states that Romrell was killed in the line of duty while “protecting the streets and citizens of South Salt Lake” when suspects fleeing a reported burglary hit the officer with a vehicle.

A remembrance on the website reads, “He devoted his entire adult life to serving his country and the community and made a lasting impact on all who had the fortune to know him.” Romrell, who served several tours in the Marine Corps before joining the South Salt Lake Police Department, left behind his wife and their 4-month-old son.

The department shared pictures of Jackson sitting on a motorcycle with his “fill-in dads” before starting his first day of school. The day prior, the South Salt Lake Police Department honored fallen officers, including Romrell, with a Utah Fallen Officer Motorcycle Ride.

Jackson and his mother were also present for the motorcycle ride, with Jackson pictured riding a toy motorcycle to honor his father. In 2020, the department posted said group of officers, firefighters and “honorary colonels” presented Romrell’s wife with the keys to her paid-off house, a gift ponsored by the Stephen Sillers Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which pays off the mortgages of Gold Star families, fallen officers and other first responders.