Loved ones honor crime spree victim at Riverside vigil. ‘Being with Katie felt like a gift’
One week after a double homicide, abduction and police-involved fatal shooting that rocked a close-knit community in Kansas City’s Northland, friends and family gathered at a Riverside car wash to pay tribute to the crime spree’s first victim.
George C. Manning III, 43, allegedly fatally shot Katherine Bjorklund, 33, at Riverside Car Wash around 11:15 p.m. on February 27, according to police. Investigators don’t believe that Manning knew Bjorklund, but suspect that he wanted her vehicle.
Manning stole and drove Bjorklund’s car to a home in unincorporated Platte County, where he allegedly shot 34-year-old Mercedes Ontiveros and her son 12-year-old Guiliani Calderon and abducted the 5-year-old child he shared with Ontiveros.
Ontiveros survived the shooting, and has since been recovering in an area hospital. Her son Guiliani, who lost his father Alfredo Calderon Jr. to a mass shooting six years earlier, died.
After an Amber Alert was issued, Manning returned his daughter to a relative around 5 a.m. Friday before allegedly continuing his crime spree in Kansas City, Kansas. Around 7:30, officers spotted Manning walking in the area of Northwest Vivion Road near Northwest Waukomis Drive.
Police officers subsequently shot and killed him.
‘Just a beautiful person’
About 75 people gathered at the car wash, 2806 NW Vivion Road, Thursday night to share memories of Bjorklund, known to loved ones as Katie.
Some carried bouquets of white roses or prayer candles bearing Katie’s name, while others stopped by a poster to write messages or share quotes that were meaningful to her.
Passionate about animals, Bjorklund worked at Barry Road Animal Hospital, where she was extremely close with her coworkers. Jamie Bishop, Bjorklund’s friend and manager, described Bjorklund as cheerful, charismatic and strong-willed, often uniting her coworkers by keeping them on their toes.
“Being with Katie felt like a gift,” Bishop said. “... She was loyal, empathetic, and always ready to lend an ear or a helping hand.”
It’s important to Bishop and others, she said, that the sudden and violent circumstances of Bjorklund’s death are not left to overshadow their memories of Katie’s vibrancy in life.
“The loss we feel is not just for the friend who is gone, but the future moments we’ll never get to share,” Bishop said.
As coworkers and relatives chimed in with memories of Bjorklund, some attendees at the vigil passed lighters around to make sure everyone’s memorial candle remained lit.
Dawn Ewing, a close family friend, shared a memory of a six-year-old Bjorklund chiming in from the backseat during a road trip with a declaration of faith.
“She was like no other child,” Ewing told The Star. “She had the love of God in her body from day one.”
Bjorklund’s mother Toni Bjorklund traveled from San Antonio, Texas, to attend the vigil with the help of a GoFundMe that raised over $3,000 in travel funds. Ewing’s family and Katie Bjorklund’s family belonged to a close-knit group of friends who raised Katie and their other children side by side near Shawnee, Ewing said.
As the oldest child in the group, Bjorklund grew up with a loving community around her, but also fell into the role of a caretaker at times, Ewing said.
“She could’ve made anybody proud the way she took care of brothers and sisters and babies,” Ewing told The Star. “She was just a beautiful person.”
Bjorklund’s beloved dog was with her when she died, but survived the shooting, Bishop told The Star. The dog was picked up by Wayside Waifs, a Grandview animal shelter, where he has since been reunited with Bjorklund’s coworkers.
“That was a little piece of Katie coming back to us,” Bishop said.
As Bjorklund’s loved ones huddled together under the harsh lights of the car wash parking lot, the clock struck seven, filling the air with the somber tolling of a nearby church bell.
