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Meaghan M. McDermott
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Hundreds of mourners came out Monday afternoon to pay their respects to Rochester Police Officer Daryl Pierson, who was shot last week in an exchange of gunfire with a suspect.
“I’m here to support my fellow law enforcement officers,” said Lynnette McMahon of Greece, N.Y., a corrections officer on leave related to injuries suffered on the job in 2008. “Having been assaulted, I know how dangerous this job can be … but this should never happen to any law enforcement officer, they are the ones who protect us.”
Outside the Bartolomeo & Perotto funeral home on Monday, a massive American flag held aloft by two fire department ladder trucks snapped in the breeze over the parking lot entrance. Dozens of Patriot Guard Riders — in their denim and leather — held smaller flags, lining the sidewalks in salute to Pierson’s memory.
“Our purpose is to stand a line in honor of the fallen,” said John LaMarca, a founding member of the group’s Arizona chapter. He’s has been participating in PGR events locally while here visiting family this summer. “And it’s never easy.”
But, he said, his voice catching, “sometimes all you can do is stand the line and keep your sunglasses on.”
His wife, Fran LaMarca, a retired teacher also holding a flag with the Patriot Guard, said it is an honor to participate.
“The young men and women who are our soldiers, firefighters and police provide us such service and get so little respect,” she said. “So I am here showing my support. We all need to center our selves in a life of service to others.”
The funeral home parking lot was packed with police cars, police motorcycles and ambulances from near and far. A mounted patrol stood quietly on horseback as a line of people waiting to pay their respects to Pierson’s family snaked out the doors.
Stan Knutowicz, chief of the village of Sodus Point Police Department, said no matter which agency a fallen officer is from, the brotherhood of police stand beside him.
“We are all in this together to protect the community,” he said.
The tragic shooting was especially poignant for retired parole officer Kelly Funderburk, who left the job in June after 17 years of tracking down parolees in the same neighborhood where Pierson, 32, was killed on Wednesday.
“It is so sad to see an officer lose his life at such a young age, I’m keeping his family in my prayers,” he said. “The tough part for them will come after all of this is said and done, so I’m going to keep them in my prayers.”
Visitation hours will continue Tuesday at the funeral home. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Blue Cross Arena at the Community War Memorial.
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