“We send those officers not only for the department to represent and show their department that we support them”, said Lafayette Police Department’s Public Information Officer Paul Mouton, “But to show the family and the children of those fallen officers that hey you have family across the nation and we’re here to support you”.
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Funeral services for police officer Matthew Gerald, at Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 22, 2016.
Later in the service, Pastor Mike Haman asked everyone to stand and applaud the law enforcement officers in the room.
When protests erupted here over a black man’s killing during a struggle with two white police officers, Baton Rouge police officer Matthew Gerald made a promise to an old friend who urged him to be careful. The funeral for another Baton Rouge Police Department officer, Montrell Jackson, is set for Monday. Lester Mitchell, an 11-year police veteran. They were discussing how much all those situations were putting a strain on the community and police relations, said Mitchell as reported by the CBS News.
On the day of the attack, the partners had been writing reports at police headquarters when Gerald said he was feeling exhausted, and was going for an energy drink at the B-Quick convenience store a few blocks away.
Hundreds of mourners began gathering at the church where funeral services were about to begin for slain Baton Rouge Police Officer Matthew Gerald.
The CBS News says that Mitchell told that at the store someone told Gerald that an armed man was walking through the area, and Mitchell says his partner radioed for help. Mitchell arrived at the scene with another police officer, but gunfires had already been shot, and Matthew Gerald was already hit. His funeral is Friday in Baton Rouge. The gunman was killed by police.
The many mourners Friday included Sheriff’s Capt. Tom Cox from Knox County, Tennessee.
Twenty-three-year veteran East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Sgt. Bruce Simmons, 51, leaves the Baton Rouge General Hospital in Louisiana on Thursday, July 21, 2016, after recovering from wounds received during an attack on officers on Sunday.
Gerald’s brother-in-law Justin Badeaux said in an emotional tribute, “He laid his life down to protect his community and country”.
After 200 arrests in three days in Louisiana’s capital, tensions seemed to be easing before the surprise Sunday morning ambush. More funerals follow Saturday and Monday. He had served four years in the Marines and seven years in the Army before he became a police officer earlier this year.
Custom-made caskets for each man were designed and donated by a Texas company.
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Garafola’s family wanted a collage of family photos inside, Ganem said.
