Thousands of citizens lined streets in Prince William County, Virginia Monday night to observe an immense police procession in tribute to 28-year-old police officer Ashley Guindon. She was killed in the line of duty on her first full day as a cop.
Guindon had interned with the Prince William County Police Department as a graduate student, but had only been sworn in as an officer on Friday, February 26th.
The procession of police vehicles rolling from the Mountcastle Funeral Home to the Hylton Memorial Chapel where her services were held spanned six miles according to Fox.
CNN reports that Guindon was fatally shot on Saturday while responding to a domestic violence call with two other officers.
Ronald Williams Hamilton of Woodbridge, Virginia stands accused of shooting his wife Crystal before police arrived, then firing on officers Guindon, Jesse Hempen and David McKeown before surrendering to backup officers.
Hempen and McKeown were also hit but are expected to recover from injuries.
Hamilton, an active duty Army staff sergeant assigned to the Joint Staff Support Center at the Pentagon, is “being without bond on charges of capital murder of a police officer, assault with a fire arm and murder in the first degree” according to NBC.
An 11-year-old boy was rescued from the scene unharmed.
The deeply tragic nature of this entire string of events is hard to think about without wanting to bury your head in some sand. But this immense display of support from the public and law enforcement community made me feel another way. One thing’s for sure; it was too powerful not to share.
The Prince William County Police Department has posted an obituary for Officer Guindon on their website. Rest in peace.
Contact the author at andrew@jalopnik.com.