| James Ragland: Officer's son left to grieve after slaying 01/04/2001 By / The Dallas Morning News Dixie Buchanan wants her 9-year-old son, Andrew, to have a normal life.
That didn't seem like such a monumental task until 10 days ago, when Andrew's father was shot to death as several men fled the scene of a robbery.
By now, you know the gruesome details. The seven suspects had escaped from a South Texas prison almost two weeks before they were accused of killing Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins on Christmas Eve at an Oshman's Super Sports USA.
Four days later, Officer Hawkins, 29, was laid to rest.
There has been little rest for his son, Andrew, a Watauga elementary student who expected to spend Christmas with his father and now faces a life without him.
"I don't think it's something any 9-year-old boy should have to deal with," said Mrs. Buchanan, the officer's former wife. "Even though Aubrey was an ex, if I could do anything to change it, I would. It's tragic for everyone. And we'll just have to pray about it and try to move forward."
For Andrew, moving forward is an important step, but it is one that, understandably, may take some time.
Consider that he was having dinner with his father minutes before the shooting. That it was Christmas Eve, and young Andrew was brimming with excitement. That his father was supposed to pick him up from his mother's house at 10 a.m. on Christmas Day.
Dad's parting words
"Aubrey had made an arrangement to take his break that night so they could have dinner together at the Olive Garden, which was just across the street from Oshman's," said Susan Werth, a family friend. "Just as they were paying the bill, Aubrey got the call and had to rush out, so he didn't get to hug his son. He said, 'I'll see you in the morning.'"
A short time later, Mrs. Buchanan got a phone call from the police telling her something had happened to Officer Hawkins.
That's how Andrew learned that his father had been killed in the line of duty.
"It was heartbreaking," Ms. Werth said. "The first thing he wanted to do was get his Christmas list back from Santa so he could change it. He wanted to ask for his father back."
It is unrealistic, I presume, to expect the men who killed Andrew's father to care about the ripple effect of their violence. I'm not naive enough to believe that will give the suspects any pause, given their criminal records.
Ms. Werth said that the shooting created anxiety for other young boys she knows.
"There are four of us mothers who are very close – me, Dixie and a set of twins. And we all have boys about Andrew's age," she said. "All of them are exhibiting signs of shock and grief, from not wanting to sleep alone to showing emotional outbursts.
"All of the boys wanted to talk to their fathers, and they're basically saying, 'Dad, what if it had happened to you?'"
'What will happen?'
Mrs. Buchanan said a big worry she has is one that friends keep mentioning: "What will happen now if something happens to you?"
"That's a scary thought," she said.
But she added that her hopes for Andrew's future are buoyed by the close relationship he has with Lori Hawkins, his stepmother. And she said her own husband is supportive, as are Andrew's grandparents and other friends and relatives.
"We're all going to do what's best for Andrew," she said. "He needs time to heal. We all need time to heal."
Right now, they have to figure out whether Andrew should return to school this week or wait until Monday. He and his mother have been meeting with police counselors to learn how to deal with the grief.
"Really, everything's too soon still to know what's going to happen," Mrs. Buchanan said. "You just try to make your kid's life as normal as possible."
Everyone I know is pulling for Andrew.
James Ragland's column appears twice a week in Metropolitan and on Fridays in Texas Living. He can be reached at 214-977-8270 or at .
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