The 10-year-old aspiring police officer killed in the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, two years ago was posthumously named an honorary NYPD officer Thursday, warming the hearts of his family.
Jose Flores Jr., who was shot and killed along with 18 other children on May 24, 2022, was honored by Interim Police Chief Thomas Donlon during an emotional ceremony at 1 Police Plaza. He was awarded the Police Medal of Honor and sworn in.
“I'm so happy that they're honoring my baby,” the boy's father, Jose Flores Sr., told the Post. “His dream was to become an officer, and he still does.”
Flores Sr. and his family were granted an all-expenses-paid trip to the Big Apple by Blue Lives Matter New York City, which heard his story from Texas police.
According to his father, the 10-year-old was an honor student with many friends until he was tragically killed by a maniac with an AR-15-style rifle.
“He was a good kid. He was a guy who loved kids. He wasn't a fighter. He was always laughing. He was hyperactive too. He was up and down, I was talking to him,” Flores Sr. said.
He said losing his son was “the most painful thing a person can go through in life” and that “nothing else can compare.”
On Thursday, the family toured St. Patrick's Cathedral and Times Square before the ceremony.
Flores' brothers Jace, 2, and Jaden, 8, also received honorary police badges.
“Today is a very important and emotionally very happy day,” Donlon said.
