Memorial dedication held for Officer Gonzalo Carrasco Jr. 1 year after death

SELMA, Calif. (KFSN) -- It was a solemn ceremony on Wednesday, marking one year since Selma Police Officer Gonzalo Carrasco Jr. was killed in the line of duty.

The department unveiled a monument that will serve as a permanent tribute to his life and legacy.

It's one year without Carrasco Jr's warm smile. One year without his comforting hugs. One year without his touching words.

But to his family, it feels like yesterday.

"I feel that my son is always going to be with me and he's never going to go," Officer Carrasco's dad, Gonzalo Carrasco Sr. said. "I'm never going to feel that he's not with me in my life, but he will be in my heart. When this happens, I feel like he hugs me and he is around everybody."

Selma Police Officer Gonzalo Carrasco Jr.'s dad was in tears as he reflected on one year without his son.

"Personally I feel like it happened yesterday. It's a feeling that I hope is never going to go away because I get the feelings every day," his father said through tears.

The 24-year-old was shot to death after a homeowner flagged him down to report a suspicious person on her property.

RELATED: Remembering Selma Police Officer Gonzalo Carrasco 1 year after his death

The suspect immediately opened fire on Carrasco, killing him just one month before the birth of his baby boy, Maximus.

Action News spoke to his son's mother this week, Dinuba Police Officer Karla Alvarez.

She told us she speaks to baby Max often about his father.

"I honestly can't wait for the day for him to truly understand who his father was," Alvarez said.

Carrasco's death was the first line-of-duty death in the history of the Selma Police Department.

"A year ago today, the Selma police department lost our brother," Selma Police Chief Rudy Alcaraz said. "Moreover, a year ago today, the world lost a kind, selfless man who committed his life to service, and the world is lesser for it."

Wednesday morning, the community he died serving honored him with a new memorial outside Selma PD headquarters.

"I feel great today because I see a lot of people that care about my son, and I appreciate that because that way, I think that I am not by myself or my family going through this because there's a lot of people around us that help us going through this," Carrasco Sr. said.

The community has shown an outpouring of support for his family, even paying for the new memorial.

The city of Selma will honor Carrasco by flying all flags at half-staff every year on January 31.

"I ask that we go back to our lives and live as he lived: selflessly and for others," Chief Alcaraz said.

Officer Carrasco's family will go to Washington DC for the annual Law Enforcement Officers Memorial dedication in May to see Gonzalo's name added to the national monument.

The department is also planning additional fundraisers for the trip.

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