Maria Zamarripa, glued to the TV coverage of the murderous mayhem in Dallas, frantically texted her stepson: “Can u please let us know if you are OK?”
When Dallas police Officer Patrick Zamarippa never replied, she quickly understood that they would never speak again.
“I got that gut feeling when I texted him,” Maria Zamarripa recalled Friday inside the family’s suburban Texas home. “I knew.”
Her premonition proved sadly prescient: The five-year police veteran and father of a beautiful 2-year-old girl was among the five officers killed Thursday night in a racist rampage.
“You always think of somebody that would die in war or get killed in Iraq in a foreign country. But not here,” Maria Zamarripa, 50, told the Daily News the day after his death.
Zamarripa was the oldest of three children and “the ideal big brother,” she said.
Rick Zamarripa reads messages from loved ones and strangers Friday after his son was killed by a sniper in Dallas.
His dad Rick, who was weeping Thursday night while waiting to hear from Patrick, recalled a father-son fishing trip where the youngster caught his first catfish.
“He always wanted to impress his dad,” Rick said wistfully. “I said, ‘You don’t have to impress me. I love you. I’m your dad.’”
“Patrick’s the kind of guy that would bend over backward to help,” the dad said. “If he has $1 and you needed it, he’d give it to you. He’s the type of person that would do without so you can have.”
Moments after Maria sent a second text at 10:33 p.m., the phone rang with a summons to Parkland Hospital. Their greatest fears were confirmed upon arrival: Patrick was pronounced dead at 9:17 p.m.
A weeping Dallas Area Rapid Transit police officer is comforted at the Baylor University Hospital emergency room entrance Thursday night, July 7, 2016, in Dallas, Texas. At least five police officers were killed and six injured when gunfire erupted.
Zamarripa was a devoted fan of the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Cowboys, and his girlfriend Kristy was at a Rangers game when the ambush began.
He was also helping to raise Kristy’s older son.
Friends and family of the slain officer poured out condolences on social media.
“Love you brother. Couldn’t be prouder. We’ll see you again,” his stepbrother, Dustin Martinez, tweeted with a photo of Zamarripa in his police uniform.
“We will never forget you. Thank you for your courage. Rest in peace, Patrick Zamarripa,” tweeted pal Ben Rogers.
The last time Maria saw her stepson, he was picking up his daughter at her house — and discovered the girl was learning to talk.
“We were just happy to hear her putting words together and he had a big smile on his face,” she recalled.
Zamarripa was proud of his Mexican heritage, loved to golf and, most of all, loved being on the police force.
“He loved being a cop,” said Maria. “He loved helping people.”
Desiree Cosineau reporting in Saginaw, Tex.
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