Bartek, who was off-duty when he was fatally shot during a New Year’s Eve carjacking, was relentlessly positive, friends said. He was also the “life of the party,” whether that party was helping a friend remodel a bathroom or going on weekend trips.
Shane Bartek, a Cleveland police officer, was fatally shot on New Year's Eve during a carjacking.CLEVELAND, Ohio — Shane Bartek’s natural charm, uncanny ability to connect with others and his instinct to help anyone in need were evident throughout the 25-year-old’s life and helped draw him to become a police officer, his friends said.
“It doesn’t matter if you had one class with him four years ago, or bartended with him for two months,” said Conner Mansell, a friend since childhood. “His ability to genuinely stay connected with people was really special and it made him very unique.” He amassed a large group of friends from a young age and played soccer through high school, anchoring Berea-Midpark’s defense as the goalkeeper on a team that won Southwest Conference championships in his junior and senior seasons.
Lucas, who attended UC with Bartek, said Bartek spoke often of the life lessons he learned from his father. After his death, he focused even more on maintaining strong relationships with his family and friends, Mansell said. Mansell and Lucas said he was the lynchpin of their friend group, especially as many moved to cities across the country. He constantly stayed in touch with people and helped plan trips to visit friends every few months in their new cities, including Boston; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Chicago; and Washington D.C.“The response was always I can’t leave. I can’t leave my family behind here,” Lucas said. “You know, he always put his family at the forefront of everything.
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