Another good guy gone. RIP. ps What's the deal with all these televised arrests etc
Thousands pack out funeral for Georgian police officer shot dead as he rushed to help colleagues
Thousands of people packed out the funeral of a Georgia police officer whose ******* sparked a massive manhunt for a suspect who surrendered on live television.
Almost 2,500 people - including *************** officers from Georgia and elsewhere - filled the Classic Center theatre in Athens for the funeral of Elmer 'Buddy' Christian.
Hundreds more lined the streets as a *****-drawn hearse took his body to Evergreen Memorial Park for burial.
Grief: Thousands of police officers line the steps of the Classic Center theatre in Athens, Georgia, for the funeral of Elmer 'Buddy' Christian
Comfort: Two officers embrace each other after the funeral. The ******* sparked a massive manhunt which ended in a hostage situation on Friday
Jamie Hood, 33, fatally shot Mr Christian on Tuesday and also shot and seriously wounded Officer Tony Howard, police claim.
Hood was taken into custody on Friday night after requesting that a television news crew documented his surrender.
He had been holed up with nine hostages in an Athens apartment, before walking out with five of them. Hours earlier he had released four others.
Randy Crowe, pastor of Hull Baptist Church, where Mr Christian was a member, told relatives not to let anger consume them.
He said: 'Does (Hood) know the devastation he caused? Does he know what he has taken away from this ******, from his friends here today and from his comrades?'
Loss: Wife Melissa Christian is escorted out of the memorial service. Her husband was shot twice through the windscreen of his patrol car
Gunned down: Mr Christian had been responding to a call for backup when he was fatally shot
Popular: A *****-drawn hearse carries Mr Christian's coffin along Atlanta Highway
In the line of duty: Athens-Clarke County police chief Jack Lumpkin wipes tears from his eyes as he speaks during the service
As Hood was being taken into custody, he told WXIA-TV in an interview: 'I regret ******* that officer.'
When asked what he meant, he said: 'That officer. That innocent officer. I regret that...
'You know, they ****** my *******. They were going to **** me.'
Hood was jailed for 12 years in 1997 for armed robbery and released in 2009. In 2001, while Hood was serving time, his 22-year-old ******* Timothy was shot and ****** by an Athens police officer.
Investigators said at the time that Timothy Hood pulled a *** on an officer and was shot when the weapon jammed.
Salute: The coffin, draped in the Stars and Stripes, is loaded on to the hearse
Procession: A piper plays ahead of the coffin as Mr Christian's ****** follow behind. Right, an order of service at the memorial
Stand off: Jamie Hood, 33, was charged with ****** after giving himself up live on television on Friday night. He spoke of his 'regret' at shooting Mr Christian
Mr Christian, 34, is survived by wife Melissa, to whom his was married for 15 years, and ******** Wyatt, two, and five-year-old Callie.
He became a police officer in 2002, fulfilling his lifelong *****.
Mr Crowe said: 'He knew the danger. He knew the risk.
'But a police officer is what Buddy wanted to be. He wanted to help people.'
Hood is also suspected in the December ******* of county employee Kenneth Omari Wray, according to Athens-Clarke County assistant police chief Tom Smith.
Drama: With his arms in the air, Hood gives himself up live on television. He had insisted the surrender was filmed live
The fatal shooting took place as officers were looking for Hood in connection with a **********.
The person *********, 31-year-old Judon Brooks, managed to escape from a car when it stopped at a traffic light.
Police issued an alert for Hood and spotted his ******* driving an SUV and pulled it over.
Jamie Hood is then said to have got out and shot Mr Howard, before shooting Mr Christian as he arrived as backup.
Mr Howard remains in hospital, but it expected to recover.
Hood then fled on foot, allegedly stole a car and disappeared - sparking a manhunt that ended after a seven-hour standoff on Friday.
Hood was arrested and charged with ****** and 13 other charges.
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