Sheriff Sid Gautreaux (gOH-troh) called him courageous, compassionate, fearless and benevolent.
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Just days before he was shot and killed, Jackson posted an emotional Facebook message saying he was “physically and emotionally” exhausted and expressing how hard it was to be both a police officer and a black man.
“It’s a remarkable story, the story of Brad Garafola”, said the Rev. Jeff Ginn, lead pastor at Istrouma Baptist Church.
Baton Rouge Police Officer Matthew Gerald was remembered as a hero Friday by the city’s mayor, who called for respecting the police and avoiding the kind of “us vs. them” mentality that can encourage violence.
Garafola was laid to rest at Greenoaks Funeral Home Saturday afternoon. Garafola and two other police officers were slain July 17 in an ambush shooting in Baton Rouge.
Garafola’s friends described him as a man committed to public service and devoted to his family.
Garafola was taking cover behind a dumpster during the firefight when he saw a wounded Baton Rouge police officer make his way around the corner of a building, Gautreaux said.
The line of mourners snaked through hallways in the 1,500-seat sanctuary at Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, out the back door and into the parking lot.
Two police officers and two sheriff’s deputies were from the Seattle, Wash., area. He says the department sends an honor guard contingent to every out-of-state death in the line of duty. He was dressed in Scottish regalia as drum major for a pipe band, which played “Amazing Grace” outside the church after four helicopters flew over in salute.
Garafola, along with two other officers, was killed on duty last Sunday in a shootout with Gavin Long, a 29-year-old former USA marine from Kansas City, who was also killed in the exchange. Long came around the building from the other side and shot Garafola, killing him, and then shot the wounded officer, killing him as well, the sheriff said.
“My deputy went down fighting”, Gautreaux said.
Friday’s mourners included a police contingent from Dallas, where five officers were killed on July 7 by another black former USA serviceman.
Garafola’s family, friends and colleagues remembered him as a courageous man who was killed as he tried to help another.
About an hour before the Baton Rouge shooting, Garafola texted Tonja, his wife of 15 years: “Good morning my love”.
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