Monday, Aug. 9, 2021 | 12:13 p.m.
When law enforcement officers die, their colleagues make sure their families are never alone.
Such was the case this morning when Metro officers showed up at 9-year-old Noah Swanger’s south Las Vegas home to take him to his first day of school as a fourth-grader.
Noah’s father, 41-year-old Officer Jason Swanger, died June 24 from complications of COVID-19.
The death of the seven-year Metro veteran, who was assigned to the Enterprise Area Command, was considered to have occurred in the line of duty, according to police, who did not specify how he might have contracted the virus.
“How are you? I like that tie,” an officer told Noah outside his house, giving him a hug. The scene was captured on a video posted to Twitter.
A second of three officers seen on video also asked the boy for a hug.
“You ready? First day of school,” an officer told Noah.
“You know why he’s wearing a tie?” asked a woman recording the video. “He’s the man of the house now."
The officers and the family exchanged pleasantries for a few seconds before an officer asked Jonah: “You ready to roll?”
“Yep,” the boy responded.
Officer Swanger is one of two Metro officers who have died from COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic last year.
Lt. Erik Lloyd, 53, lost his battle to the virus a year ago.
