Massive crowd gathers for L.A. SWAT officer’s funeral
A hearse carrying the body of slain Los Angeles SWAT officer Randal Simmons arrived at a South L.A. church this morning to be guarded by members of his division in the hours leading up to his funeral service.
Dozens of solemn-faced officers in dress uniform and white gloves stood at attention as the white hearse drove into position at the front of Crenshaw Christian Center shortly before 8:30 a.m.
Once parked, four men, all colleagues of Simmons from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Metro division, took position at each corner of the vehicle. The only sounds were the distant whir of police motorcycles and the buzz of helicopters overhead.
About 30 minutes before the arrivals, the sun started shining brightly. In the parking lot, officers embraced each other and clasped hands, many dipping into a large envelope to grab a small, laminated photo of Simmons that they clipped onto their uniforms.
The funeral – expected to be one of the largest in LAPD history – is to begin at 11 a.m. By then, officials expect the 10,000-seat dome to be filled.
By 9 a.m., the front of the church seemed like a sea of blue as hundreds of officers arrived. Three officers from Jackson, N.J., in their light blue jackets and hats, stood out from the dark shade of the LAPD officers. A group of SWAT officers who had made the trip from Anchorage, Alaska, waited beneath a tree that swayed in a cool morning breeze. “Support,” one said when asked why they had made the trip.
Simmons, 51, had been on the police force for 27 years, 20 of them in the elite SWAT unit that specializes in hostage situations and other high-risk confrontations. He was fatally shot in the early morning of Feb. 7 by a mentally-troubled man, who had called 911 to report that he had killed three members of his family.
Simmons was among the SWAT unit members who broke through the front door of the man’s San Fernando Valley home believing that victims might still be alive inside. He was struck in the neck by a round that lodged in his brain stem and was pronounced dead about 1 a.m. that day at a nearby hospital.
His colleague, James Veenstra, 51, was critically wounded in the attack by a round to his jaw and will need multiple surgeries in the coming months, authorities have said.
The suspected shooter, Edwin Rivera, 20, was shot to death by a police sniper as he tried to flee his home – which had caught fire, presumably after tear-gas canisters were launched to force him out – more than 10 hours after the standoff began.
Police said Rivera, who was armed with a handgun and a shotgun, also killed his father, Gerardo Rivera, 54, and brothers, Edgar Rivera, 21, and Endi Rivera, 25. Two of the three were found with gunshot wounds to their heads. The third body was too badly burned to confirm the cause of death, police said.
Hours after the officers were attacked in the home, a woman ran from the house to safety.
In the days since Simmons’ death, he has been praised as a model officer whose work in the community extended far beyond his job on the force. Eleven years ago, he founded an outreach ministry called Glory Kids with his own money, and worshipers at Glory Christian Fellowship International in Carson said he routinely devoted at least part of three days each week to the church. Glory Kids now serves about 1,000 children a month, said church spokeswoman Melissa Franklin.
Simmons is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two children.
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