To the people who knew him best, Chicago police Officer Andrés Mauricio Vásquez Lasso was a loyal friend and confidant, even if he sometimes seemed serious upon first meeting.
To his mother, he was “my police officer,” as she affectionately called him. To some of his colleagues at the police academy, a friend fondly recalled, he was the officer who got the class in trouble one day when he was late.
Family, friends and Chicago police officers on Thursday shared emotional tributes at the funeral Mass for Vásquez Lasso, who was shot and killed on March 1 while responding to a domestic 911 call. Police officers filled the pews at St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel for the service, presided in English and Spanish by Chicago police chaplain the Rev. Dan Brandt and the Rev. Andrés Beltrán.
