Watch Hundreds Mourn Pa. Police Officers Slain in Ambush

By Charles Thompson and Jonathan Bergmueller

Source pennlive.com

Uniformed officers and residents lined the streets Thursday morning outside a funeral home in York County amid light rain as caskets for three detectives killed in the line of duty were loaded into hearses by teams of their colleagues.

Additional officers in camouflage were poised on the rooftop of the Wagner-Elfner & Burg Funeral Home in Red Lion for security.

Detectives Mark Baker, Isaiah Emenheiser and Cody Becker died Wednesday (Sept. 17)  afternoon in a prolonged firefight while investigating a domestic violence stalking case.

As law enforcement crowded West Broadway Street outside the funeral home prior to the procession, a melancholic bagpipe melody burst out.

Jason Kohler, of Red Lion, brought his two nieces, waving American flags, to the corner of Main and West Broadway. Kohler said he served as fire police and the Northern York Regional Police Department routinely helped them out.

“We’re repaying the favor,” he said. “We respect them.”

Members of Boy Scout Troop 28, based in Red Lion, gathered on a corner in the borough, within viewing distance of the procession’s front.

Zachary Smith, 12, of Felton, held the troop’s flag while a fellow scout held the American flag. He told PennLive they wanted to support the fallen officers, including Mark Baker, who volunteered to mentor youth in the scouting program.

Zachary told PennLive the procession made him sad, but it was important to support the community and first-responders.

Smith’s scoutmaster, David Pennell II, said one goal of scouting is to develop youth into great citizens.

“When we lose a mentor like Mark Baker, it’s felt across the scouting movement,” Pennell said. “It’s a huge brotherhood.”

Police motorcycles, cruisers, firetrucks and ambulances stretching many blocks began escorting the hearses at 10 a.m. to the Living Word Community Church on Cape Horn Road, where funeral services were planned to start at noon. Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to be among the mourners at the service.

Roads along the procession route were closed to the public. Along the four-mile route, it was impossible to ignore the somber air of the day ahead.

More than two hours before the scheduled 10 a.m. rollout, homeowners and businesses planted small flags by the roadside. Many business and church signs bore tributes to the Baker, Emenheiser and Becker.

And small groups of mourners were already starting to take positions along sections of the road in a steady drizzle.

Scores of people thronged Cape Horn Road at Lombard Street, just like for a Halloween or Christmas Parade, only in a much heavier mood as they prepared to pay respects to the Baker, Emenheiser and Becker.

Janet Mong, 54, of Dallastown, handed out out miniature American flags to the gathered.

It was, she said, one small thing she could do to help honor the fallen, their families and their colleagues.

For others, in wasn’t just a matter of communal respect—it was deeply personal.

“Our son-in-law is a police officer with Northern York Regional and we knew the people that were killed,” said Steve, who asked not to give his last name out of respect for his daughter’s husband.

“I hope that this makes people more aware of what these guys face every day,” he said, in the minutes before the procession rolled by. “And what their wives face every day they leave the house.”

A few steps away, a small crew of Intensive Care Unit nurses from UPMC Memorial Hospital, the scene of a winter shootout that left West York Police Officer Andrew Duarte dead, stood vigil along Cape Horn Road, with hand-lettered signs showing support for the police.

It was important for them to be here because a couple of the officers involved in last week’s ambush were also on the scene at the hospital that day, nurse Dina Freeman noted.

“It’s senseless. It’s unimaginable. And being connected through tragedy is not something you ever want to experience… But that’s why we’re here,” Freeman said.

Just then, the somber parade of police motorcycles, hearses and coach buses bearing mourners crested the hill to the south and started to roll by.

And tears started to flow.

Asked what she hoped those in the procession would feel from the presence of people like her along the route Thursday morning, Freeman said two things.

“That we’re tired of watching it.”

And then, this:

“That there is not a day that goes by that we are not grateful for their lives and their sacrifice.”

The funeral service was closed to the public but will be live-streamed by the funeral home.

The detectives were killed by a gunman who had broken into his ex-girlfriend’s home, police say. The suspect was lying in wait inside when five detectives and York County Sheriff Lt. David Godfrey arrived to arrest him on stalking and prowling charges.

Godfrey and an unnamed fourth detective fatally shot the suspect, ending the firefight.

Godfrey and the unnamed detective’s conditions were upgraded to satisfactory Friday.

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