On Monday, Joshua Eyer ‘showed up to help’ for the final time. His friends say that’s Josh.

Joshua Eyer followed Ashley — as he so often would — onto a brightly lit stage and smiled.

An unmanned drum kit and vacant piano sat in the back. It was just them, their crisp choreography, three outfit changes and a finale stunt.

The soon-to-be-wedded couple’s performance of “Barbie Girl,” “Hey Mickey” and “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” would win them a 2015 Lip Sync Battle — the perfect contest for Eyer, who’d never been much of a talker, friends said, but who was born with a “permanent smile.”

On Monday, Eyer’s smile became known to many who would never hear his voice. A photo of the 31-year-old, dressed in his Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department uniform, was tacked onto screens, pages and alerts as news broke.

4 law officers killed, 4 wounded serving warrant in east Charlotte home

With scores of officers around him, Eyer died Monday night when responding to help after a task force came under fire while trying to serve a warrant to a fugitive in east Charlotte.

The suspect, Terry Clark Hughes, Jr., holed up in a home on Galway Drive and fired at least 100 rounds from a high-powered rifle at officers and a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, killing Deputy Marshal Thomas “Tommy” Weeks and Department of Adult Correction Officers Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott.

Officers killed Hughes, 39, in the front yard and took two others who were in the house, including a 17-year-old girl, into custody. Charlotte police have said they are not looking for suspects, though. Police said they found an AR-15 rifle and 40-caliber handgun.

Eyer made it to a nearby hospital, where family surrounded him in his final moments.

“He was just always so dependable, always showing up to help,” said Paula Morris, a former mentor turned family friend. “It sounds like that’s what he did on Monday. He showed up to help.”

Eyer was “the epitome” of “a phenomenal officer,” CMPD said in a statement. A week before the shootout, Eyer was named CMPD’s North Tryon Division Officer of the Month for proactive policing that addressed quality of life concerns in Sugar Creek, North Tryon Street and the I-85 corridor.

He and Officer Aubrey Guldager made 16 arrests in the area — 14 of those linked to felony cases, CMPD said.

Fellow Charlotte officers Christopher Tolley, Michael Giglio, Jack Blowers and Justin Campbell were also injured in Monday’s shooting.

A processional march for Eyer will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Law Enforcement Center at 601 E. Trade St. and end at First Baptist Church at 301 S. Davidson St. in uptown, where a service will begin at 10 a.m. It will be livestreamed, CMPD said, and a graveside service will follow at Sharon Memorial Park at 5716 Monroe Road.

Eyer had been a CMPD officer for six years — a member of CMPD’s 178th recruit class — before he died in uniform. A tattoo on his arm reads: For those I love, I will sacrifice.

Serving in the North Carolina Army National Guard, Eyer climbed to sergeant first class during his 12-year tenure, Morris said. Between two deployments, he studied criminal justice at Pfeiffer University in Stanly County, about 40 miles east of Charlotte.

There, he’d meet Morris, then the Director of Student Involvement, and Ashley — a resident director.

Morris, known as “everybody’s mama,” knew, well, everyone, but when Josh started dating Ashley, he quickly became a staple around campus.

That never changed.

As a student, he’d volunteer his time fixing the games in the student lounge, which were regularly roughhoused by college students, Pfeiffer University President Scott Bullard recalled during a phone interview with The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday.

Eyer was an old soul among the occasional rowdy college campus, he said. He became a main character — then a role model — in a Pfeiffer love story.

When Ashley recently became the school’s assistant director of student success, Eyer made the 40-minute lunchtime drive from their Concord home to campus — Taco Bell in the passenger seat.

“He was probably exhausted working second or third shift, but it was important to him to be in Ashley’s environment, to sit down for lunch with her,” Bullard said.

The two married in 2017, and in 2021, their son Andrew Brian — who turns 3 in June — took a spot in the backseat, quickly gaining mascot-level fame alongside his dad, Morris said.

“Josh was a man’s man — a soldier and a police officer, strong and smart — but that little boy owned him,” she laughed through tears.

It’s hard to imagine what the rest of their son’s life will be like, said Chip Palmer, Ashley’s boss.

“He’s just not going to be able to understand what happened at 3,” he said.

Ashley and her son had become accustomed to the safety of having a police car parked in front of their house. Now, the duo is Pfeiffer’s priority, Palmer said. Co-workers and trustees started a college fund for the youngest Eyer and a list of meals to deliver to his family hours after news broke.

From close friends to strangers to passing church acquaintances, like Justyna Chwalek, Eyer will be remembered for his grin and gigantic heart — both always directed toward his family.

“He loved his wife, and he loved his family. You could just tell,” Chwalek said. “They look at each other like two lovebirds.”

“The look” is now in memories of fellow officers, soldiers and even the audience inside Pfeiffer’s auditorium for the 2015 lip sync show.

“And I owe it all to you…” the song closed out — and Eyer smiled.

HOW TO WATCH FRIDAY’S MEMORIAL SERVICE

There are three ways to see Friday’s service for Eyer:

▪ https://facebook.com/cmpdnews

▪ https://youtube.com/cmpdvidcast

▪ https://charlotte.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/?site=1