KOKOMO, Ind. — It started when 5-year-old Malachi Fronczak saw the news on TV that a police officer in Indianapolis had been killed while responding to an accident.

Aaron Allan, a lieutenant with the Southport Police Department, died last week after being shot more than a dozen times by a man who was trapped in an overturned vehicle.

Jason Fronczak, Malachi’s father, could tell that Malachi was affected by the news, and he asked his son what was wrong.

“He said ‘I didn’t know that policemen could die, doing what they’re doing,’” Jason said.

Malachi operates a lemonade stand — dubbed “Malachi’s Magnificent Lemonade” — and had made a habit of giving free lemonade to first responders and military personnel. So it was a natural decision for him to set up the stand again, this time to raise money for Allan’s family.

“We couldn’t be more proud,” said Jason. “He’s a great kid, with a big heart that likes to serve people by nature, and he wants to be a policeman when he grows up.”

Monday afternoon marked the second day the stand was up and running in a middle class neighborhood in Kokomo, about 70 miles north of Indianapolis. Jason told the Kokomo, Indiana Tribune that there had been a steady stream of customers in their first hour of operation, after news of the stand had spread on social media, thanks largely to a post from the local police department.

“It’s special to us because of why he wants to do it,” said Kokomo Police Department Capt. Kevin Summers, who visited the stand Monday. KPD supported the stand, said Summers, because of where the money was going, with Summers referring to Allan as a “brother in law enforcement.”

Summers said a number of officers had interacted with Malachi in the past, when he was giving free lemonade to police officers, saying that he’s “special” to the department.

Malachi said he felt “good” that people were coming to his lemonade stand, and he likes when police officers show up. Malachi has a tendency to hug officers when he sees them in public, said Jason, and will thank military members for their service when he sees them in uniform.

That’s the kind of attitude that Jason said he and his wife, Trisha, have tried to instill into Malachi. They’ll pay for veteran’s meals and make cookies to take to police stations and fire departments, he said.

“So he’s kind of watched and observed that, I think, which led him to where he’s at now,” Jason said.

Jason said the lemonade stand raised $47 on Saturday, but on Monday afternoon, he said he thought they would be well above that, and into the hundreds.

Neuenschwander writes for the Kokomo, Indiana Tribune.