NYSSA – Roughly 200 people came out Monday, April 15, to honor fallen Nyssa police officer Cpl. Joe Johnson in an annual softball game to raise money for area first responder training.
April 15 marked the one-year anniversary that Johnson, a reserve police officer with the Nyssa Police Department was gunned down after being dispatched to a call regarding a violent person, Rene Castro, damaging property and threatening others.
The murder of Johnson, shot while he sat in his patrol vehicle, has lingered for Nyssa officials, police officers and residents. However, Jim Maret, Nyssa city manager and a fellow reserve officer of Johnson’s said that Monday’s softball game was not a “sad event.”
“It was what Joe would have wanted,” Maret said. “We celebrated. It was fun. We had a blast.”
In the first annual JJ Memorial Softball Fundraiser, Maret said law enforcement officers and firefighters were to face off, but the police and firefighters did not have enough players to field the teams. Instead, Maret said the teams ended up comprising of “kids and adults.”
The event featured a live auction, a slate of food vendors, a deejay and a silent auction. Additionally, the Department of Corrections Honor Guard conducted a flag ceremony to kick off the event. It’s unclear how much was raised for first responders, but city officials said they would know later in the week as they are still tallying up how much they collected.
Maret said each year marking the anniversary of the shooting Nyssa will be hosting the softball game, and the Caldwell Police Department will do a “cop run” through downtown Nyssa.
Johnson, a popular police officer, received the Nyssa Police Department’s Outstanding Performance Awarded in December 2022.
Maret, who has been a reserve officer for nearly a decade, said Johnson was an “exceptional” and “kindhearted” person who taught him things over the years.
“He was just like my family,” Maret said.
According to Nyssa Police Department Chief Don Ballou, the idea surrounding the anniversary of Johnson’s murder was to have an event that focused on hope and fun.
Maret said the turnout of more than 200 people was an “outpouring of love and support.”
About 200 people attended the first annual JJ Memorial Softball Fundraiser in Nyssa Monday, April 15 to raise money for area first responders. (Special to the Enterprise/ANGIE SILLONIS)
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