Law enforcement officers from around the country traveled to Virginia to pay their respect to Trooper Dermyer, who was shot and killed by a man during a training exercise at the Greyhound bus station in Richmond last week.
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Officials estimate there were more than 80 troopers from 20 states outside Virginia in attendance at the funeral.
Flaherty praised Dermyer’s professionalism, intuition and experience as a police officer, saying he rose through the ranks quickly – he was assigned to the state police’s counterterrorism unit after just two years with the agency.
Steven Flaherty pauses after speaking during a memorial service for Virginia State Trooper Chad P. Dermyer at the Liberty Baptist Church on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Hampton, Va. Dermyer…
Dermyer tried to carry a conversation with Brown near the front entrance of the bus station around 2:40 p.m., but within seconds Brown pulled out a 40 caliber Beretta semi-automatic pistol from his trousers and shot Dermyer multiple times. Brown, of Aurora, Illinois, was killed by two other state troopers after he opened fire. She spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity, saying she fears for her safety.
Dermeyer served on police forces in Jackson, Michigan, and Newport News, Virginia, before becoming a state trooper in 2014.
Trooper Dermyer was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
He is survived by his wife Michelle and two young children.
After the ceremony, bagpipers played as Dermyer’s coffin was taken out of the church. He said he came to the ceremony to show Virginia State Police and Dermyer’s family that they have support throughout the country. A private burial will follow in Gloucester County.
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She became emotional when she described his “megawatt smile”.
