EL PASO TX (KVIA)\u2013 Hundreds of runners, families, and law enforcement officers gathered at Ascarate Park Saturday morning to honor the life and sacrifice of fallen El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Deputy Peter J. Herrera.<\/p>\n
The annual Deputy Peter J. Herrera Memorial 5K brings the community together to remember the deputy who was shot during a traffic stop in San Elizario and later died from his injuries.<\/p>\n
Participants crossed the finish line waving flags and cheering alongside fellow runners, officers, and family members. Many attendees brought their families \u2014 and even their dogs \u2014 to take part in the event.<\/p>\n
Sunland Park Police Officer Jesus Vazquez finished first in the law enforcement category. He says being part of the event means much more than simply winning a race.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great honor. Honestly we\u2019re all brothers and sisters. At the end of the day I\u2019m here representing New Mexico State Police\u2026 and I do remember him and when it happened,\u201d Vazquez said.<\/p>\n
Vazquez says events like this highlight the strong relationship between law enforcement and the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvents like this\u2026 it goes a long way. Honestly we\u2019re here because of the public. So they\u2019re the ones that keep us going. Without them we\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n
El Paso County Sheriff\u2019s Office Deputy Oscar Urdanete says the memorial run also reminds people of the sacrifices officers make while serving their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis serves to remind the community of the sacrifices that law enforcement does\u2026 unfortunately Peter lost his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Runner Joaquin Melendez says the event shows how much support law enforcement has across the Borderland.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cool to see how much the community supports law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Vazquez, the run is about making sure Deputy Herrera\u2019s legacy continues.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s very important because you\u2019re leaving a legacy\u2026 so as long as we\u2019re in someone\u2019s memory, we\u2019re going to be living.\u201d<\/p>\n
Organizers say the memorial run is not only about remembering Deputy Herrera but also about supporting his family and ensuring his legacy lives on in the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO TX (KVIA)\u2013 Hundreds of runners, families, and law enforcement officers gathered at Ascarate Park Saturday morning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":["post-196585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}