The Associated Press
VIENNA, Va.- The second officer gunned down by a teenager outside a suburban Washington police station was remembered Saturday as a man who loved his job as a protector.
Thousands returned to the McLean Bible Church to honor Master Police Officer Michael Garbarino a week after they had turned out for funeral service for detective Vicky O. Armel.
Garbarino, 53, had been hospitalized after being shot five times while sitting in his patrol car at the Sully District Station in Centreville on May 8. Police have said that the 23-year veteran of the police force was finishing his shift when 18-year-old Michael Kennedy drove up in a hijacked van and began firing.
Kennedy fired at least 70 rounds from a modified AK-47-style assault weapon and a high-powered rifle before he was killed by officers, police said.
Doctors kept Garbarino heavily sedated throughout his hospitalization, as they tried to save his life. He died early Wednesday.
“We can be sure than in some way he will still look out for and protect his family and all of us,” said the Rev. Gregory Safchuk, his pastor at St. Mark’s Orthodox Church. “On this day we thank him for his sacrifice.”
Kennedy’s family released a statement Friday expressing their “sympathy and regret” to Garbarino’s family. The statement also said the family does not believe their son targeted Armel or Garbarino, and that the shooting was a “result of his deteriorating mental condition.”
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