10 Bay Area Law Enforcement Officers Head East For Funeral Of Slain NYPD Officer
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- The funeral for one of the 2 NYPD officers shot and killed last week is set for Saturday in New York. Law enforcement from all over the nation is expected to attend, including officers and deputies from the Bay Area.
Airline carrier, Jet Blue offered free flights to New York for any law enforcement officer who wants to attend the funeral.
Deputy Jurnation Reymundo of the San Francisco sheriff's office will be on one of those flights.
Reymundo said he didn't expect to be leaving town the day after Christmas, but duty called. He said the officers' deaths hit him hard, even though it happened 3,000 miles away.
"When an officer is hurt and more so when they are killed, it's an impact," said Reymundo. "It's very important to us that we show our support for one another."
Deputy Reymundo was one of 10 Bay Area law enforcement officers who boarded a flight to New York for the funeral of NYPD officer Rafael Ramos, on Saturday.
Ramos was killed along with his partner Officer Wenjian Lui, last week, when Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot both officers in their patrol car in an ambush attack.
Brinsley later killed himself.
The deaths may have happened on the opposite coastline of Deputy Reymundo, but he says he feels the pain of their deaths as if it they were one of his own.
"We have a saying, it's called 'the thin blue line.' Basically it's a sense of camaraderie shared. We can be total strangers but in an instant we understand one another.
The 8 police officers and 2 deputies on their way to New York will be joined by thousands of law enforcement officers from all over the nation who are expected to attend.