March 21, 2001
(ALIQUIPPA, Pa.) – Hundreds of police officers gathered in western Pennsylvania to honor a fallen colleague.
John Naim, who had been a police officer in Aliquippa for just over a year, was buried Tuesday. Naim was gunned down last week while on foot patrol.
More than 1,000 officers from the Pittsburgh area, elsewhere in Pennsylvania and neighboring states packed Our Lady of Fatima Church or stood outside during the funeral service and joined the cortege to Mount Olivet Cemetery in Hopewell. Our Lady of Fatima School, where Naim was once a student, lowered its flag to half-mast during the service.
Darnell Hines, 19, and Jamie Brown, 23, have been charged with the killing.
Investigators say they ambushed Naim as he walked his beat not far from a police substation.
Naim is survived by his mother, Mary Anne, a sister and three brothers, including his twin, Donald. His widow, Galina Naim, was able to attend the funeral, although the Bulgarian national had been unable to join him in the United States because of visa problems.