DETROIT – At 25 years young, Officer Darren Weathers already was a combat veteran and the father of a little girl.
He grew up on Detroit's east side, so it was natural for him to stop and talk to the neighborhood kids. He saw them playing basketball this past summer and asked if he could join in. He wanted kids to have a more positive relationship with police.
"Sometimes kids don't have good role models in their families. If I can reach out in any type of way then I feel like I won," he said at the time.
Weathers will be remembered for such touching moments and community involvement, but it wasn't always like that for him. At only a year and a half on the job he was involved in a dangerous shootout. Weathers was credited for his heroic actions as he saved the life of a fellow officer.
He and Officer Waldis Johnson were on a domestic violence run on April 30, 2017 when a man started shooting at them. Johnson was shot in the face. Weathers returned fire and pulled his partner to safety.
"His response to it, it was just textbook. For a young officer to respond that way, he relied on his training and instincts ... he truly is a hero and one of Detroit's finest," said Chief James Craig.
It was no surprised when he was chosen for the Detroit Police Department's Integrity Unit.
On Tuesday morning he was on a training run when his vehicle was struck on Michigan Avenue near Clark Avenue. Chief Craig was visibly shaken as he held a news conference to announce Weathers was killed.
"He was a phenomenal officer," said Craig.
Friends, family and colleagues remember him as the type of role model they wanted on the streets of Detroit.