LUBBOCK, Texas — “We had just started a new friendship – I was checking in on Nick and let him know that I’m praying for him and the department,” said CJ Wetzler. “I didn’t think much of it, that I didn’t get a response back.”
However, CJ Wetzler would think about it much later, after he saw a police presence in front of his apartment.
“It wasn’t until I started backing out of my garage and seeing the line of police cars there that I flipped a “ueey” and came back and asked the question that I didn’t want to ask,” Wetzler said.
His neighbor, 27-year-old Nicholas Reyna, died in the line of duty. Reyna leaves behind his wife, and six-month-old daughter.
“You kind of pull to the side of the road – you stop and you think about…that it hits home, and whether of not you have a deep relationship or not it definetly hits home when it’s right at your doorstep and we forget just how fragile life is,” Wetzler said.
Wetzler went on social media sharing Reyna’s memory, and a message about ‘complacency.’ He emphasizes how life in be altered in just a second, and his post went viral.
“My hope is they see a tangible representation of this city coming together to support them, love them, be there for them, and be there for the long-haul as the attention wains. I hope they feel supported by all of us,” Wetzler said.