DETROIT (WXYZ) — "You want to continue the hope and the faith, but everybody has a time and I think my dad's time came when he was tired and he's at peace now," said Arin Johnson, son of Detroit Police Officer Waldis Johnson.
Officer Johnson died Sunday, three years and a month after he was shot in the head.
Officer Johnson and his partner Darren Weathers were responding to a domestic violence call on the city's west side near Joy Road and Wyoming.
Officer Weather was able to return fire and he shot and killed the man who opened fire on them.
And since that day, Officer Johnson continued to fight to return to his family and some of the life he knew.
Arin said his father never regained his mobility. "His speech never came back. His brain function was about 11%," he told 7 Action News as they prepared to make funeral arrangements for a service that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, may not even be fit for the hero his father was to his fellow officers and the community.
"I think a lot of people would remember him as an amazing police officer," Arin said.
The Officer Collin Rose Memorial Foundation has started a fundraiser to help Officer Johnson who leaves behind his wife and three children. The goal was to reach $2,591. Officer Johnson's badge number was 2591.
Click here if you'd like to contribute.
Officer Johnson's partner, Darren Weathers, died a year after the shooting in a car crash during a training exercise.
