Dunwoody Police Officer Attends Ambushed NYPD Officer's Funeral

A Dunwoody Police officer joined law enforcement officers from across the country to attend the weekend funeral services for NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu.

Liu was shot and killed inside a patrol car in Brooklyn Dec. 20 along with NYPD Officer Rafael Ramos.

Sgt. Robert Parsons traveled to New York from Dunwoody, and shared some of his experiences on the Dunwoody Police Department’s Facebook page. He estimates that 20,000 officers from around the world were at the service.

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Liu, 32, and Ramos, 40, were gunned down by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, a 28-year-old who traveled by bus to New York after shooting his ex-girlfriend in Maryland that morning. Once he fired the fatal shots into the patrol car, Brinsley ran to a nearby subway platform and killed himself.

A funeral for Ramos was held Dec. 27 and drew more than 20,000 mourners, according to the BBC.

Services for Liu were delayed until Jan. 4 so his family could travel to the U.S. from China, CBS reported.

Parsons wrote, in part:

“I had never seen anything like it. It was cold and raining but nobody seemed to mind. Everyone was there to pay their respects and it would take much more than cold and rain to keep us from that. The Shomrim Safety Patrol, a local neighborhood watch group, had set up coffee stations and handed out several hundred cups of coffee and snacks to those in the crowd. Throughout my time in New York, I was amazed by the level of hospitality shown to us by the NYPD. We were picked up, escorted where we needed to be, given facilities to store luggage and change clothes, and then shuttled back to JFK to fly home. The resilience of this organization is simply incredible and I was grateful to be there representing the City of Dunwoody Police Department and our community.”

Readers of the department’s Facebook page shared their thanks to Parsons for his trip to New York to share condolences, and for his work.

Facebook user Hema Juman wrote: “We need more people like you in law enforcement !! Thank you and may God continue to protect you while you protect us.”

And user Marina Alden Bryant posted: “Thank you for your service to the community and representing the Dunwoody Police Force and the citizens of Dunwoody, to show respect and honor this officer and his family.”

Dunwoody Police officer Sgt. Robert Parsons traveled to New York over the weekend to pay his respects to fallen NYPD Officer Wen Jian Liu. Photo Credit: Dunwoody Police Department’s Facebook page