Associated Press
NEW YORK — Hundreds of New York City police officers lined Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in a farewell salute Monday to a former NYPD colleague who was gunned down in Texas.
David Hofer, an officer in the Dallas suburb of Euless, was celebrated at a memorial Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. NYPD officers in dress uniform were among thousands of mourners praying before his cremated remains.
A Euless police officer had carried the cherry wood box with Hofer’s ashes bearing his name to the altar, near some daisies and a sign that read, “Blue Lives Matter.”
His finacee, Marta Danylyk, wept quietly, sitting close to his mother, Sonja Hofer, and his father, Helmut Hofer.
“He went to Texas to make a good life, but once you put a shield on your chest, you’re always in danger,” Pat Lynch, head of New York’s Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said after the service.
The 29-year-old Brooklyn native was killed Tuesday while responding to reports of shots fired in a Euless park. As he and his partner approached, the gunman opened fire, mortally wounding Hofer. His partner returned fire, killing the man.
A New York University graduate, Hofer spent five years working in New York’s Ninth Precinct in the East Village. He left two years ago for Euless, whose police department has welcomed several former NYPD officers to its ranks.
On a sunny Monday morning, the lone bagpiped sound of “Amazing Grace” rang over Fifth Avenue as Hofer’s remains were carried out of the cathedral, the seat of New York’s Roman Catholic archdiocese.
Monsignor Robert Ritchie, who presided over the Mass, summed up Hofer’s life in three words from the pulpit: “Respect, honor, love.”
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press