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Funerals Begin for Dallas Police Officers Killed by Sniper Families and Fellow Officers Honor Victims of Dallas Sniper
(about 7 hours later)
FARMERS BRANCH, Tex. — Hours after the nation mourned Dallas’s five slain police officers — with the president and his predecessor presiding over a memorial service and urging unity in the face of growing racial discord — friends, strangers and fellow officers here began shouldering the more intimate burden of saying goodbye to the officers, one by one. DALLAS — Hours after the nation mourned Dallas’s five slain police officers — with the president and his predecessor presiding over a memorial service and urging unity in the face of growing racial discord — friends, strangers and fellow officers here began shouldering the more intimate burden of saying goodbye to the officers, one by one.
The goodbyes for Sgt. Michael J. Smith began Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in this suburb about 15 miles north of the downtown Dallas streets where Sergeant Smith and four colleagues were gunned down on Thursday by a black gunman who was looking to kill white police officers. Services were held Wednesday for Officer Brent Thompson of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit force and Sgt. Michael J. Smith and Sr. Cpl. Lorne B. Ahrens of the Dallas Police Department. Services for the other two officers killed last week by a sniper will be held on Friday and Saturday.
Tuesday was the beginning of a period of pain, remembrance and camaraderie for Dallas and its police force. Visitations were held Tuesday for two other fallen officers, Lorne B. Ahrens of the Dallas police and Brent Thompson, who worked for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit force. Both men’s funerals will be Wednesday. A private service on Wednesday for Sergeant Smith will be followed by a public memorial on Thursday. At Prestonwood Baptist Church, hundreds of uniformed officers from around the country rose as bagpipes played and the family of Corporal Ahrens entered the church.
The visitation for a fourth victim, Officer Michael Krol, will be Thursday with the funeral on Friday. Visitation for the fifth victim, Officer Patrick Zamarripa, will be Friday, with a funeral on Saturday. With the Dallas mayor and police chief among the mourners, two officers remembered Corporal Ahrens, a 48-year-old father of two, for his bravery, friendship and deep dedication. “When you were on the radio screaming for help, you could count on Lorne to be the first to be there,” Sr. Cpl. Debbie Taylor said.
Speaking before his coffin, she said that Corporal Ahrens, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound man, could tear off iron burglary bars and kick down fences in pursuit of someone, but could also show great kindness to a scared child at a crime scene.
Sr. Cpl. Eddie Coffey said Corporal Ahrens had not not seemed to know how strong he was, telling a story of how he had once bent a police car door by accident during training.
“You were his best friend and his dedicated wife,” Corporal Coffey said to Katrina Ahrens, as she sat with her 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son.
Officer Thompson, 43, was remembered for pushing the bounds of life so hard that he almost always found a way to get hurt.
There was that time as a youngster when he nearly broke his neck playing with his parents’ hammock. Or when he wrecked his brother’s Mustang after begging him to hand over the keys. Or the time he broke his arm during motorcycle training for the police department.
Yet it was his fearlessness and desire to serve his country that led Mr. Thompson to join the Marines and, after returning from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, to become a police officer, his longtime pastor Rick Lamb said on Wednesday.
“Though I’m heartbroken and hurt, I’m going to put on my badge and my uniform and return to the street along with all of my brothers and sisters in blue,” Mr. Thompson’s wife, Emily, whom he married just over two weeks before his death, said with a shaky but steely voice. “To the coward that tried to break me and my brothers and sisters, know your hate made us stronger.”
The goodbyes for Sergeant Smith began Tuesday night at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in the suburb of Farmers Branch, about 15 miles north of the downtown Dallas streets where he and four colleagues were gunned down on Thursday by Mr. Johnson, who was black and said he was looking to kill white police officers.
A private service was held Wednesday for Sergeant Smith, and a public memorial is planned for Thursday.
President Obama, speaking in Dallas, said Tuesday that the shooting — and the earlier deaths of African-American men in Minnesota and Louisiana at the hands of police officers — had opened “the deepest fault lines of our democracy.”President Obama, speaking in Dallas, said Tuesday that the shooting — and the earlier deaths of African-American men in Minnesota and Louisiana at the hands of police officers — had opened “the deepest fault lines of our democracy.”
But there were no perceivable cracks at Sergeant Smith’s visitation. Black, white, Hispanic and Asian mourners lined up outside of the church in the pummeling summer sun, waiting patiently for a chance to have a quiet moment to pay their respects. The officers in the Dallas Police Department wore their dark blue uniforms. Friends and strangers came in T-shirts, work shirts and flowery dresses. Shortly after 6 p.m., the Dallas police chief, David O. Brown, arrived and stood in line with everyone else.But there were no perceivable cracks at Sergeant Smith’s visitation. Black, white, Hispanic and Asian mourners lined up outside of the church in the pummeling summer sun, waiting patiently for a chance to have a quiet moment to pay their respects. The officers in the Dallas Police Department wore their dark blue uniforms. Friends and strangers came in T-shirts, work shirts and flowery dresses. Shortly after 6 p.m., the Dallas police chief, David O. Brown, arrived and stood in line with everyone else.
In a hallway leading to the chapel, an officer approached. They embraced.In a hallway leading to the chapel, an officer approached. They embraced.
“How you doing, man?” the chief said quietly. “Take it slow.”“How you doing, man?” the chief said quietly. “Take it slow.”
Sergeant Smith, 55, was a longtime member of the Dallas police force. Mr. Obama described him as a man of faith and a father of two girls, with whom he loved to play softball. “Today, his girls have lost their dad, for God has called Michael home,” he said.Sergeant Smith, 55, was a longtime member of the Dallas police force. Mr. Obama described him as a man of faith and a father of two girls, with whom he loved to play softball. “Today, his girls have lost their dad, for God has called Michael home,” he said.
His body lay in a coffin lined with snow-white fabric. Two members of the Dallas Police Honor Guard stood at either side. Some visitors stopped and made the sign of the cross. Officers saluted stiffly, then walked down a side aisle, their faces grim. Plainsong played quietly in the background. There was an occasional sound of muffled weeping, and the sound of backs being slapped by open palms.His body lay in a coffin lined with snow-white fabric. Two members of the Dallas Police Honor Guard stood at either side. Some visitors stopped and made the sign of the cross. Officers saluted stiffly, then walked down a side aisle, their faces grim. Plainsong played quietly in the background. There was an occasional sound of muffled weeping, and the sound of backs being slapped by open palms.
In an atrium, a photo of Sergeant Smith, bespectacled, uniformed, with a police radio pinned to his left shoulder, was set among a guest book and crowded displays of flowers. One spray came from the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation. Another came with a ribbon that read SPECIAL NEIGHBOR.In an atrium, a photo of Sergeant Smith, bespectacled, uniformed, with a police radio pinned to his left shoulder, was set among a guest book and crowded displays of flowers. One spray came from the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation. Another came with a ribbon that read SPECIAL NEIGHBOR.
Outside, near an American flag agitated by the whipping wind, the Dallas mayor, Mike Rawlings, spoke briefly with reporters. “I don’t know the pain of the family, they don’t know our pain,” he said. “But if we all join hands together and lift each other up, somehow the pain is salved just a little bit.”Outside, near an American flag agitated by the whipping wind, the Dallas mayor, Mike Rawlings, spoke briefly with reporters. “I don’t know the pain of the family, they don’t know our pain,” he said. “But if we all join hands together and lift each other up, somehow the pain is salved just a little bit.”
On Monday evening, Chief Brown stood before hundreds of officers, their families and residents at a vigil outside City Hall, once again seeming to carry the weight of the grief of his department and his city on his shoulders.On Monday evening, Chief Brown stood before hundreds of officers, their families and residents at a vigil outside City Hall, once again seeming to carry the weight of the grief of his department and his city on his shoulders.
He began his remarks by saying that as a child, he used to run home from school to watch Superman on television. Superheroes, he said, are a lot like police officers.He began his remarks by saying that as a child, he used to run home from school to watch Superman on television. Superheroes, he said, are a lot like police officers.
“Faster than a speeding bullet,” he said at the end of his speech. “More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look. It’s a train. It’s a plane. No. It’s Patricio Zamarripa. Look, it’s Brent Thompson. Look, it’s Michael Krol. Look, it’s Lorne Ahrens. Look, it’s Michael Smith. Godspeed. God bless you. God bless the Dallas Police Department.”“Faster than a speeding bullet,” he said at the end of his speech. “More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look. It’s a train. It’s a plane. No. It’s Patricio Zamarripa. Look, it’s Brent Thompson. Look, it’s Michael Krol. Look, it’s Lorne Ahrens. Look, it’s Michael Smith. Godspeed. God bless you. God bless the Dallas Police Department.”