Funeral service to begin for NC police officer killed in line of duty
A funeral service will be held today for a Concord police officer who died last week while responding to a call.
The funeral for Officer Jason Shuping, 25, of Salisbury, will be held at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Cente. A burial will follow at Shiloh Reformed Church of Faith Cemetery. Rev. Richard Myers will officiate.
The service will be live streamed by Observer news partner WBTV.
Shuping was shot while responding to a carjacking call in a Sonic parking lot last Wednesday. He had been with the department for less than two years.
A former Boy Scout, Shuping wanted to be the best police officer he could be, according to his obituary. He received his basic law enforcement training at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College where he was a top shooter in his class and received commendations.
Shuping was also a member of Shiloh Reformed Church of Faith and the handbell choir. He volunteered with vacation Bible school and enjoyed hunting and fishing. Faith is a town outside of Salisbury and has a population of around 800, according to the Rowan County Visitors Bureau.
In his free time, he could be found cheering for the Carolina Panthers, working on home improvement projects or “eating enough for two,” his obituary states.
“Jason had a larger than life personality and a smile that could light up the room,” according to the obituary.
Shuping attended East Rowan High School and graduated magna cum laude from UNC-Pembroke in 2018. He was on the track team at both schools and studied criminal justice and sociology and terrorism studies.
Shuping leaves behind his parents, a brother, a sister, a half-sister, several in-laws and his wife, Haylee, whom he married in 2018.
A death in the line of service
The shooting occurred just before 11 p.m. Dec. 16 in the parking lot of the Sonic Drive-In near Bruton Smith Boulevard, Concord officials said last week.
Police say the incident began when a Concord police officer and an on-duty state Alcohol Law Enforcement agent found a crashed vehicle near an exit of Interstate 85. After speaking to a citizen, police said the officers found the suspect, 29-year-old Jeremy Maurice Daniels, at the parking lot of a Sonic drive-in.
Concord police said when the officers and the ALE agent approached Daniels, he started shooting at an officer. Officials believe this was when Shuping was shot and another officer, 23-year-old Kaleb Robinson, sustained minor injuries. Robinson also had been with the department for less than two years.
Daniels was later shot and killed by officers, police said.
The State Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the incident. Three officers who were also on scene have been put on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in an officer-involved shooting, officials said.
Shuping is the second police officer in the Charlotte area to die in the line of service this month. Mount Holly police Officer Tyler Herndon died after being shot while responding to a call on Dec. 11.
A Kings Mountain police officer was wounded in a gunfire exchange with a suspect on Saturday.