Thousands attend funeral for slain NYPD Officer Brian Moore

Thousands of police officers from departments throughout the country packed a Long Island church and lined the streets outside Friday for the funeral of a young New York City police officer killed on patrol.

Officer Brian Moore, 25, died Monday after he was shot in the head over the weekend while attempting to stop a man suspected of carrying a handgun. He and his partner were in street clothes in an unmarked car when they made the stop.

Police officers stand at attention as the casket for fallen New York City police officer Brian Moore is brought into a Long Island church

(AFP / Getty Images)

Thousands lined the streets as uniformed police officers saluted Moore's casket at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Seaford, where the funeral Mass began under heavy security.

The casket for fallen New York City police officer Brian Moore is brought into a Long Island church.

(AFP / Getty Images)

Authorities ordered a 3-mile no-fly zone overhead, and snipers watched from the roof of a nearby elementary school.

"Brian's death comes at a time of great challenge," New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton said. "We are increasingly bearing the brunt of loud criticism. We cannot be defined by that criticism."

Police snipers survey the area from the roof of an elementary school before the funeral Mass.

(Associated Press)

Msgr. Robert Romano called Moore a hero during the televised service. He described Moore as an officer who always ran toward the trouble, not away from it.

"We ask ourselves, 'Where was God last Saturday?' I can tell you he was in a man named Brian," Romano said.

New York City Police Department Monsignor Robert Romano, center, conducts the funeral for NYPD police officer Brian Moore.

(AFP / Getty Images)

Memories, the police chaplain said, will keep Moore alive.

"He has left an indelible mark on those who were close to him -- something he said, something he did," he said. "Every time you think of that thing, you'll know Brian is there."

Moore's death came five months after the slayings of Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, whose deaths angered police union leaders and cast a shadow over a civilian-led movement pressing for police reforms.

At the funeral, Bratton spoke of a "family of blue."

"Once again we find ourselves together in mourning," Bratton said. "It is too soon since the last time.... Why is it always the good ones?"

Because almost all of them are "the good ones," he said.

Shortly after, he posthumously promoted Moore to detective first grade. The promotion was met with a roar of applause.

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