Community remembers fallen Nicholasville officer

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (WTVQ) – “We’ve come here this evening with our hearts deeply saddened over the loss of our dear friend Officer Burke Rhoads,” Nicholasville Mayor Pete Sutherland said to the crowd that gathered in front of Nicholasville’s City Hall Thursday evening.

A community heartbroken by a sudden and heavy loss came together to remember Officer Rhoads.

The impromptu vigil was first announced around midday on Facebook, the Nicholasville mayor says.

“[He was] an amazing person, a loving father, a loving husband and a person who took his job very seriously and loved what he did,” family friend Bridget Recktemwald says.

Officer Rhoads was an eight year veteran of Nicholasville’s police department. He was also a member of the department’s honor guard and a United States Army veteran.

“Anything he did, even if he wrote someone a ticket, it was in an effort to change their behavior,” Nicholasville Police Sgt. Scott Harvey says. “It was not an effort to punish, not an effort to belittle, it was an effort to change behavior, because he cared enough about them to try and change behavior.”

The department and the community are now working to find a ‘new normal’ without one of their loved ones.

“Remember that each day is precious,” the mayor says.