UPDATED: Thousands Gather to Say Goodbye to Fallen NYPD Officer Brian Moore

By Heather Doyle

A funeral procession fit for a hero crept through Seaford Friday morning as thousands offered a final salute to NYPD Officer Brian Moore.

Moore’s extended family in blue flocked to the area and lined Hicksville Road by the thousands to guard the route into Seaford’s St. James Roman Catholic Church.

• RELATED: Massapequa Florist Gives Out 2,000 Blue Ribbons to Honor Brian Moore

The navy blue line of officers was dotted with lighter blue, green, and brown uniforms emblazoned with names of faraway towns. New York accents mingled with New England and Southern brogues as the stream of uniformed officers came together and marched toward the church. Local officers greeted each other in bittersweet fashion as they caught up with each other and repeatedly said they wished they were meeting under better circumstances.

But the reunions and quiet chatter were quickly drowned out as a motorcade of more than 100 officers snaked through the town.

Officers were called to attention and stood in a stoic salute. The salute was both spectacular and heartbreaking as the car carrying Moore crept up to the church, flanked by the NYPD Emerald Society.

As Moore’s family and friends filled the inside of the church, thousands remained outside, quietly talking with other officers or standing in silent appreciation of the homily and eulogies.

“Time heals all wounds. Please, never believe that,” said NYPD Chaplain Msgr. Robert Romano. “As we say in Brooklyn, it ain’t true…The wounds will always be there.”

Romano called Moore an American hero and a team player, statements backed up by NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“He made the ultimate sacrifice while keeping our city safe,” said de Blasio, calling Moore a “great man” inside the church. “We all are heartbroken, as are the people of our city.”

Bratton told the crowd: “It’s not many of us who can say we lived out a dream, but Brian could. He dreamed of being a cop. He dreamed of following his dad, whom he loved so much...Brian came to this job through his family, which exemplifies the notion of bleeding blue. All cops bleed blue.”

Moore will be posthumously promoted to detective Friday.

The 25-year-old officer from Massapequa was gunned down last Saturday after he and his partner approached a man in Queens Village who was “walking and adjusting and object in his waistband,” according to NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.

Police say Demetrius Blackwell, 35, then opened fire, striking the 25-year-old Moore in the head. Moore died from his injuries on Monday.