CLEVELAND — First responders and community members are continuing to remember Jacob Derbin, the Euclid police officer who was killed over the weekend in the line of duty.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Association of Cleveland Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 93, honored Officer Derbin with a 4.96-mile memorial walk.
“Whether you’re losing a police officer, firefighter, military personnel, or EMS personnel, it’s all tragic. Your heart goes out for them,” said Jake Konys, the association's president. “In our community, we know each other’s families. We know the kids. It’s really just like having a brother or sister pass away and your heart goes out for them. We’re glad that our firefighter community and our first responder community, has come out and shown the love, letting the Euclid community know, letting officer Derbin’s family know that we’re here for them. We’re going to support them with whatever they need to do.”
The memorial walk began at the upper part of Edgewater Park at 1:30 p.m. and ended at the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial outside Cleveland Browns Stadium with a special tribute to Derbin at around 3:15 p.m.
Walking among them were members of the organization Carry the Load, who honor fallen service members and first responders by carrying the American flag across the country leading up to Memorial Day.
“It’s very tragic to hear and I'm honored that we're carrying his name throughout this week because of that,” said member Martin Holsinger. “We'll take his name and we'll move it forward so he'll never be forgotten and always remembered.”
At the walk, 3News caught up with Euclid Police detective Steve Shubert and asked him how the Derbin family is doing.
You can watch the special tribute for Officer Derbin at the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial below.
Derbin, who was just 23 years old, died on Saturday night after responding to a call for aggravated menacing on East 211th Street. Upon arriving at the scene, officers went to check the back yard and were ambushed by gunfire from the suspect.
Officer Derbin was shot and died as a result of his injuries. Officers returned fire at the suspect, 24-year-old Deshawn Anthony Vaughn, but he fled the scene on foot. On Sunday, Vaughn was involved in an hours-long standoff in Shaker Heights, where he later died.
During Tuesday's walk, 3News caught up with Euclid police detective Steve Shubert and asked him how the Derbin family is doing. Shubert said the family is focused on healing and the funeral for Jacob on Saturday. He added that he had spoken briefly with Derbin's father, Euclid police officer Vince Trusso, but is now giving them space.
“Right now, we've kind of left the family alone a little bit,” he explained. “They need to heal. This is a devastating loss. I couldn't even imagine my son being on the police department with me and having to hear this come out and having to be part of something like this. I couldn't even imagine. So my prayers are with Vince and Jacob's mother. I can't even imagine what they're going through.”
Funeral arrangements for Derbin can be found HERE.