Miranda Pederson/Daily NewsBowling Green Police officers escort the body of Officer David Whitson on Cemetery Road after he was returned from Louisville on Wednesday morning.

Fellow officers and co-workers remember Master Police Officer David Whitson for his jovial personality and love of his family.

Whitson, 34, died at 11:19 a.m. Tuesday from a single gunshot wound to the back, according to Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby. He said Whitson had no other wounds.

Whitson was struggling with Rojelio Gonzalez-Pacheco, who had attacked him with two knives, and both were shot when officers used deadly force to end the altercation, according to Kentucky State Police.

The incident occurred just after 10:30 a.m. when officers responded to a call about a man with a knife at 1036 Vine St. This residence belongs to Gonzalez-Pacheco’s brother and aunt, according to state police.

Gonzalez-Pacheco, 26, of Edmonton was also killed by a single gunshot wound in the incident, Kirby said. He was shot in the abdomen.

Toxicology reports are pending for both Whitson and Gonzalez-Pacheco and should be available within four to six weeks, Kirby said.

Whitson, a Gallatin, Tenn., native, worked for the Bowling Green Police Department since Jan. 5, 1998. Whitson was a 1996 graduate of Western Kentucky University and Portland High School in Tennessee.

He had worked as a patrol officer his entire career, according to Officer Barry Pruitt.

Whitson was also part of two of the department’s special assignments teams, serving on the Neighborhood Response Team and the Explosive Recognition and Investigation Team. He was also a member of the Fraternal Order of Police and a graduate of the Department of Criminal Justice at Eastern Kentucky University.

Whitson is survived by his wife, Holly Jennifer Whitson, a son, Jacob Aaron Whitson, and a daughter, Hannah Elizabeth Whitson.

Whitson was known by his fellow officers as &#8220Slim” after country music singer Slim Whitman, because of his love of old country music, said Detective Tim Wilson.

&#8220Slim was a guy who could always make his fellow officers laugh, which is sometimes important in this job,” Wilson said.

He was really excited to be on the neighborhood team because it was something he always wanted to do, he said. Whitson wanted to go into the city’s problem areas and make a difference.

He also worked an extra job as security at Dillard’s so his wife wouldn’t have to work, Wilson said. And he worked overtime at the department so his children could attend a private Christian school.

&#8220He probably stayed at work more than he should have, but he did it so his kids could have the best education and best school,” Wilson said.

Whitson also took the time to get to know people, said Pam Whitter from the records department.

His wife would always come in to get his paycheck and it was obvious how much he loved his family, she said.

Officer Josh Hughes said Whitson would spend his 30-minute breaks on Sundays going to church with his family.

&#8220He would always talk about his wife and kids and how much they meant to him,” Hughes said.

Whitson also could always make people laugh, he said.

&#8220You would be in a bad mood and he would quote a movie or do an impression and make you laugh,” Hughes said.

&#8220First and foremost, he was a family man,” dispatcher Lori Ochocki said, who started at the department the same year as Whitson. &#8220His kids were absolutely everything to him.”

Whitson and Hughes worked together to form the Explosive Recognition and Investigation Team.

He had a quick wit, said Officer Jerry Corbitt, public information officer, and talked all the time about his wife and kids.

&#8220I have a little girl and boy, too, and that was something we talked about,” Corbitt said. &#8220He gave me advice about how to get through those initial sleepless nights.”

Whitson was a kind man who cared about the people he helped, Maj. Quentin Hughes said.

&#8220He kept people calm and tried to help them solve their problems using a common sense approach,” he said. &#8220I can’t say enough about how he handled situations with respect. He always treated people fairly.”

Whitson was a good person to be around and could make people smile even if they’ve had a bad day, Maj. J.R. Wilkins said.

He believed in education and was always trying to improve himself as an officer, Wilkins said.

Capt. Danny Vickous, who is in charge of training at the department, said Whitson always had questions and worked hard during training.

&#8220He was an all-around good cop,” Vickous said.

Vickous said he had talked to Whitson on multiple occasions about his faith and family.

Police Chief Doug Hawkins said the support of the community has been &#8220immeasurable” in helping the department deal with the tragedy.

The support will help the department and the community in general get through the tragic loss, he said.

&#8220David Whitson was a guy who everybody liked,” Hawkins said. &#8220Even the bad guys liked David Whitson.”

Whitson’s funeral is at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hillvue Heights Church, with burial following in Crestview Cemetery in Gallatin, Tenn. Visitation is from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the church.

The family of Rojelio Gonzalez-Pacheco is also reeling from the tragedy.

&#8220His brothers are just beside themselves,” said Karla Gonzalez-Pacheco, a sister-in-law.

Gonzalez-Pacheco said while her family’s sympathies also are with the family of Whitson, she said her family is struggling to find answers – answers they haven’t been given by police. The Edmonton resident said the family was kept waiting several hours Tuesday at the hospital to hear what had happened to Rojelio Gonzalez-Pacheco. And when police finally came, there still were no answers.

Gonzalez-Pacheco said she asked a city police officer Wednesday why deadly force was used on her brother-in-law, whom she said she didn’t think would harm anyone.

&#8220I asked why they couldn’t have shot him in the leg and he said it wouldn’t have worked,” she said.

Gonzalez-Pacheco said the officer was rude to her and suggested the family get an attorney if they wanted to pursue anything. But he said he didn’t think &#8220we had a leg to stand on,” she said.

&#8220I feel like they were treating him like an animal because he was not legal and he was Hispanic,” she said.

Corbitt said the department could not comment about the incident or the use of deadly force. The investigation being handled by state police.

Gonzalez-Pacheco believed her brother-in-was was free of alcohol and drugs, but had been showing signs of mental illness.

&#8220He wasn’t getting treatment; it had just started,” she said.

Gonzalez-Pacheco said the doctors told the family that Rojelio Gonzalez-Pacheco was shot once in the stomach, severing a main artery.

&#8220He bled out; they tried to give him blood but it wouldn’t work,” she said.

She described her brother-in-law as a loner.

&#8220He lived on a dairy farm and had a real nice house,” Gonzalez-Pacheco said.

He moved to Edmonton about six months ago from Bowling Green where he had lived for six or seven years, she said.

Because they have many family and friends in Bowling Green, the funeral will be here and handled by Burnam and Sons.

&#8220Now we are just trying to raise money to send him home (to Mexico),” she said.

Rojelio Gonzalez-Pacheco’s mother still lives there but is ill and awaiting surgery.

At the time of the incident, Gonzalez-Pacheco was under five years probation on a forgery charge, according to Kentucky Probation and Parole. He has also served some jail time in 2003 for driving under the influence.

– City editor Robyn Minor contributed to this article.

Officer Whitson’s obituary and funeral arrangements can be viewed at http://www.bgdailynews.com/obituaries/