HOUSTON – The Houston Police Department officer who died in a helicopter crash Saturday morning in north Houston is being remembered as a “kind, gentle, generous and an honorable American.”

Police identified Jason Knox, 35, as the tactical flight officer who died at the hospital following the crash.

Knox joined the department in June 2012, officials said. He was assigned to the Midwest Patrol Division and the Office of Public Affairs before joining the Air & Marine Division in January 2019, according to HPD.

“Jason had a history of service,” the department wrote on Twitter.

Knox started his law enforcement career with Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Office in August 2006 before joining the Spring Valley Police Department in September 2008.

In December 2011, he enrolled in the Houston Police Department Training Academy.

“Our hearts are broken after the loss of an amazing officer,” HPD Chief Art Acevedo wrote on Twitter. “He was a great husband, father, son and friend. Above all else, he was kind, gentle, generous and an honorable American. Our hearts go out to his family, and all that knew and loved him. We pray for God’s comfort."

The Knox family is beloved in the Houston community.

Knox was the son of Houston City Council Member At-Large No. 1 Mike Knox, while his wife, Keira, worked as a Cy-Fair Fire Department dispatcher. The couple shared two young children.

Here is the statement from Mike Knox:

My wife, Helen, and I and Jason’s wife, Keira, are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love and support from our Houston community. We celebrate all Jason embodied as a committed HPD officer and pilot who fully embraced his job and we celebrate Jason as he was outside of his work - a devoted husband, a loving father and our only son whom we cherished every day. Where there is great love, there is great loss. We love Jason with all of our hearts, as we always have, and we will keep all that he is alive for his children. As believers, we know Jason is in the loving arms of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We appreciate the privacy you have given us and continue to provide as we walk this road we would never wish for anyone, but that we now accept as ours.

Here is a tribute from the Houston Police Department:

Here is a tribute from Chief Art Acevedo:

Here are acknowledgments from Houston Mayor Turner:

Here are acknowledgments from the Cy-Fair Fire Department: