Funeral Procession for Bloomingdale Officer to Run Through DuPage Co. Wednesday

A full honors police funeral procession will take place on Wednesday for Bloomingdale Police Department officer Raymond Murrell who was killed in a single-vehicle crash on Jan. 19.

The public is invited to view the procession, which is expected to include approximately 1,000 vehicles and will run through several DuPage County towns.

The funeral procession will follow a funeral Wednesday for the police officer, which will be held at Wheaton Bible Church in West Chicago starting at 10 a.m. The full route will run from Wheaton Bible Church, 27W500 North Avenue in West Chicago, eastbound on North Avenue and then south on Country Farm Road to Roosevelt Road where the procession will continue east to Oak Ridge Cemetery in Hillside for the burial, ABC7 Chicago reports.

The funeral procession will require the closure of roadways along the route, according to a city of Wheaton press release. No vehicles will be allowed to pass the procession or travel parallel to it. Drivers are encouraged to use alternate routes during the funeral.

Wheaton city officials estimate the following roadways will be closed between 12 and 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday:

• Southbound County Farm Road from North Avenue to Roosevelt Road
• Eastbound Roosevelt Road from County Farm Road to Oak Ridge Cemetery in Hillside.

Glen Ellyn village officials provided the following information about road closures:

The procession will be traveling eastbound on Roosevelt Road and will enter Glen Ellyn from Wheaton and continue east into Lombard. The major signalized intersections along Roosevelt Road in Glen Ellyn will be blocked to allow the procession through. Additionally, northbound traffic on roads intersecting with Roosevelt Road will not be able to cross during the procession. Traffic on westbound Roosevelt Road will remain open; however, traffic turning southbound from Roosevelt will be restricted. Please prepare alternate routes.

A visitation was held from 3 to 9 p.m. at the church on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, a funeral procession was held in Bloomingdale.

During the procession on Wednesday, the Wheaton Police Department will only be responding to emergency calls for service and the Wheaton Fire Department will also be paying their respects throughout the route. Those wishing to view the procession, are encouraged to stand off the roadway in a safe location.

Murrell, 27, of Addison was responding to a report of a crime in progress at a store on Army Trail Road when his SUV struck a pole near Cardinal Avenue at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, police said. Murrell was transported by ambulance to Glen Oaks Medical Center in Glendale Heights and was pronounced dead at 10:50 p.m.

Preliminary findings from an autopsy performed Friday revealed Murrell died from multiple traumatic injuries, according to a news release from the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office.

Murrell, who received a Life-Saving Commendation earlier this year, was the first Bloomingdale officer to die in the line of duty, Police Chief Frank Giammarese told the Chicago Tribune.

Murrell graduated from the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy in June 2016, according to the department. Murrell was also spend some time as a corrections officer with the Cook County Sheriff's Department, according to his obituary.

"With only a short time on as a Police Officer, he had already made his mark in our profession and within our community," the Bloomingdale Police Department said in a post on Facebook. "He had received a Life-Saving commendation among many other well-deserved accolades."