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The following was posted on the chat page of KETV Channel 7 Chat Board.

I am still having a hard time grasping the reality of what has happened here. Two years ago, I met Jason while I was working at Godfather's here in North Omaha. I saw him about twice a week for the year and a half that I worked there. I had recently decided that I wanted to become a police officer, and the first night I met him, I sat with him and talked to him for about an hour about it. He was so encouraging and supportive. Everytime he'd come in, we'd talk about that more and he would always make sure that I hadn't changed my mind. I got a new job and left Godfather's and then I never really saw him very often.

TWO DAYS before the shooting, for the first time in TWO years, I saw Officer Pratt at a gas station! We were so excited to see each other! He told me that I was his favorite counter girl at Godfather's and I told him that he was my favorite cop! We talked for about 15 minutes, and one of the last things he said to me was, "Lora, you're still going to be a police officer, right?" Yes Jason, I am STILL going to be a police officer. Like you did, I plan on applying at as many departments as I can.

Words cannot describe how much I miss you, how much everyone misses you. I think about you everyday and I thank God that he gave me the chance to see you and talk to you one more time. You're in a much prettier place now, a place where the sun is always shining and there is no hate.

Rest In Peace Jason - You're always on our minds and forever in our hearts.

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Tye,

Those of us who served with you and knew the warrior and the prankster you were will forever have a place in our hearts that is both dark with the pain of your loss and glowing with the memories of your past. We all love you and hold those memories dear.

The following is re-printed form the Omaha Police Union official newspaper The Shield. I hope it sheds light on the type of man we all lost for those of you who did not know him. He was truly one of a kind.

by Steve Martinez

I cannot recall a time when my heart ached as much as when I heard those words come through my phone.

"It's Pratt"

Jason Tye Pratt, my colleague, my friend, my brother. The man with the quintessential “s**t-eating grin”. Preparing myself for the worst, I began to wonder how he could lose. It was unthinkable to me that any piece of street garbage could emerge victorious from a battle with Tye. He was a victim of a tragic circumstance. He was a victim of a flawed judicial system. He was a victim of his own trust in human nature and the belief that no one would perpetrate such a horrible crime. He was an officer of the law that swore to protect and serve, and perhaps make that ultimate sacrifice some day. He was everything I aspire to be, and in that, I am not alone.

In the days following September 11, I spent many hours at the hospital to support the family. Many of us did. It was in these times that I heard stories and saw things that painted a picture of a man so loved and so special that his passing has brought together a community and brought our “family of blue” closer than ever.

I was fortunate to get to talk with many of Tye’s relatives and hear about other sides of him and was audience to some great stories. One day at the hospital I talked with Stacy’s father about Tye. He told me ho when Tye had court he would come over to their house and raid the fridge instead of driving all the way home. He was amazed at how much he could eat. He would tease him about eating so much and Tye would smirk and declare, “Just filling the cracks. Just filling the cracks.” But isn’t that what Jason Tye Pratt was all about? He was filling the cracks in the lives of every single person who knew him. He filled them with a loud razzing of a crew-mate at roll call, a locker room rant that made you smile and think, or a hilarious perspective on something that left you shaking your head as you laughed your ass off, able only to mutter one word, “Pratt”.

I started to reflect back on the first times I met Tye when he was a brand new officer. I remember my first impression of Tye. It took me all of 20 seconds to come to the conclusion, “This guy is nuts!” I was partly right. He was nuts about life. You can see it in every picture, the smirk. You could look at him and just know he was up to something. He always was. I used to marvel at how strong he was when I’d see him in the weight room, music blaring like you were actually at the Def Leppard concert. And the tirades he went on when someone neglected to put away the weight equipment. That just was not proper weight room etiquette, and he would let you know it.

He was unique in that he could bring down the house with his antics so effortlessly and he never seemed to run out of things to say or do to make you smile.

A friend told me of his last 8-0 with Tye the night he was shot. He was in typical Tye form, boasting about what a great command officer he was going to be. He was so eager to get the stripes he said when he was promoted he was going to get two tattoos. One on each bicep... "Thunder"and Lightning"! That was soooo Tye. Who among us can’t picture him flexing to show off his tatoos growling “Thunder and Lightning! Yeah baby!”?

The same friend sat with me and we talked about some of the fun times we remembered with Tye. He came up with the perfect example of what kind of affect Tye had on people. He said that if you went into a place for dinner and saw another cop or two you would say hello and maybe shoot the breeze little. You might even sit down and eat with them, you might not. But when you walked into a place and saw Tye sitting there, it was “All right, I get to eat with Pratt!”

How do we say goodbye? Who will fill the cracks left behind by a loss so devastating? How can anyone try to adequately fill the cracks in the lives of his two beautiful girls? The truth is that having met the Pratt family, having seen the love and fellowship they share not only with each other, but with all who brought to them their best wishes and prayers it is clear how he came to be the friend and brother that we all knew and loved and will miss with all our hearts. During my time spent at the hospital with Tye’s family I developed a great appreciation for them. A great appreciation for the strength with which they dealt with this tragedy, and a great appreciation for giving us such a great friend to love and share our lives with. Tye was top notch because he came from a top notch family.

During the funeral procession we were all amazed at the number of people who paid their respects. From the elderly to the school children whose innocence gives us motivation to continue the good fight, each banner and each flag waived truly touched our hearts. Of all the homemade signs I saw, one stood out. It was but one word, so simple, yet it said everything that needed to be said and reflected Tye’s life and sacrifice poignantly, “Hero.”

I went to the fund raiser at the Rush St. Car show and spent a few minutes talking with Tye’s cousin, Vito. Jason was still hanging on, ever the fighter. We started asking the tough questions to each other. What was keeping him going? What was he hanging onto? What is he waiting for? I remembered one of the photos hanging over his bed in his ICU room. The one of him giving Eskimo kisses to his youngest daughter. I thought if ever there was something to fight for, something defy death for, it was moments like the one in that photo.

Cousin Vito said he could picture Tye arguing somewhere with a higher power. He said he could see Tye wanting to come back to his family, but not wanting to settle for any less of a life than he already had. Vito and I laughed at the thought of Tye flexing his arms and chest and yelling “Bulls**t!” at the notion that he couldn’t come back the way he wanted. We laughed because we believed it, and it was all we could do to keep from crying.

Perhaps he was waiting for his day. His opportunity to say goodbye with a bang. His opportunity to give us all a venue to be together and celebrate his life. His chance to fill the crowd at Burke Stadium with the energy he once displayed on that very field. His chance to see his family there to witness him honored with his jersey being retired. His chance to fill twelve girls with caring and love for others and watch them shine. His chance to give us all time to come together and mourn his passing as a community and a family. He waited not because he wasn’t ready to go. No, he waited because we weren’t ready to let him go. That, I believe, was his final act of unselfishness. His final gesture of love for those he was bound to leave behind. If we could thank him for giving all he had to give he would smile his smirk, shrug his broad shoulders and say...

“Just filling the cracks.”

Goodbye my friend.
Officer Steve Martinez
Omaha Police Department

2003-11-02

One night a few years ago Officer Pratt arrested my son. I was very upset. After he had booked by son he came back to house to make sure I was okay. He will never know how much that meant to me but at least his family and friend will know what an extraordinary young man he was.

One day while Tye was working his beat in north Omaha, he spotted a black lady pushing a grocery cart up a steep hill. She saw Tye turning his cruiser around and must have thought his was going to ticket her for taking it from the store because she started pushing it faster trying to make the corner. When Tye got to her, he pulled over and loaded her groceries in his trunk and drove her home. He then went back and return the cart to the store.

Published Wednesday - July 21, 2004

BY KRISTIN ZAGURSKI

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Omaha Police Sgt. Jason Tye Pratt's parents want to give back to the community that supported their family when Pratt was killed in September.

So when people in grocery stores and gas stations began asking Pratt's father about the wristbands he designed in memory of his son, Michael Pratt and his wife, Rita, decided to sell the bands and use the profits to help fund programs at two local centers for disadvantaged youths.

For two months, Michael Pratt worked on a Web site from which he now sells the wristbands and shares stories and photographs of Tye.

The site, www.officerpratt.com, went online last weekend, Michael Pratt said, and the response so far has been wonderful.

Five styles of bands are available: two with pictures of Tye; one with the logo for the Omaha Police Department's SWAT team, of which Tye was a member; one with a drawing of Tye's badge; and another with Michael Pratt's rendition of a picture from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

Profits made from the bands will help support programs at the Boys & Girls Clubs in north and south Omaha, Michael Pratt said.

He said he hopes people buy the bands to help support community youths and also to carry on his son's legacy.

"I know that Tye lived . . . to make a difference," he said. "And he is going to, in a way, keep making a difference."