As San Antonio Mourns Fallen Officer, Little Girl's Simple Gesture Yields Potent Lesson

SAN ANTONIO, TX — Teach them well and let them lead the way, the song goes in referencing children. In a city reeling over the fatal shooting of a peace officer who was laid to rest on Friday, it's a child who is helping many of the grief-stricken cope with their sadness.

San Antonio Police Department Officer Miguel Moreno, 32, died last Friday after being shot in the head by a perpetrator during a car burglary call just north of downtown. Video later surfaced of his partner dragging Moreno to safety amid the gunfire despite having been shot himself, wounds to his torso from which he's recovering.

Moreno was laid to rest this past Friday, his funeral service broadcast live on San Antonio news stations.

In full uniform, his kid brother fought back tears in describing the older sibling who encouraged him to follow in his footsteps as a policeman. "He always looked out for me," Arturo Moreno said of his big brother, his voice cracking with emotion.

A fellow member of the fallen officer's cadet class described Moreno's winning smile, easy humor and accessible personality "...simply someone you wanted to know," the eulogizing officer said. SAPD Chief William McManus, his own grief evident in his countenance, told the hundreds gathered that no words would be able to ameliorate the pain and only the passage of time would help to at least gradually help lessen the hurt.

Yet a scene at a restaurant where officers gathered for dinner on the day of Moreno's service—as it happens a Luby's cafeteria, part of a San Antonio institution that's always been a favorite, welcoming stop for the city's finest—has provided many an opportunity to unburden themselves of paralyzing, numbing grief.

Spotting a group of crestfallen officers at a nearby table, a little girl named Paige walked up to them with a simple request: "May I pray for you to be safe?" she asked the policemen, according to an eyewitness. "And so that God may take care of y'all?"

To a man, each of the officers bowed their heads in silent, makeshift vigil to their fallen brother in blue, the moment captured in a picture. The officers' pain is palpable in the image, yet somehow conveying an emotional release among them triggered by the little girl's request.

Friday—normally the part of the week bringing joy in imagining the fun weekend ahead—was a very sad day in San Antonio. Worse still, it's the latest in a series of tragedies for first responders there, with another officer and a firefighter both dying in the line of duty in a span of less than eight months.

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Officer Moreno's death also was marked by anger, as the police chief voiced resentment at those who would view peace officers with disdain. Reflexively, many on social media reminded the chief that those with the temerity to critique law enforcement aim frustrations not at all officers, but those betraying their oaths.

Such debate will likely continue at a time of heightened mistrust nationwide between police and the people they've taken an oath to protect, a seemingly growing antagonism rising to the surface whenever an officer is killed in the line of duty or a suspect gunned down by police under questionable circumstances. Sadly, the rawness of ensuing rhetoric emerging from both sides of that divide after such incidents only serves to widen the growing chasm.

But inside that Luby's cafeteria—in a brief moment captured in time that's now been shared thousands of times over—a little girl emerged to teach us all a lesson in our shared humanity. Sometimes, it's a simple gesture like the one the little girl demonstrated that is the most eloquent expression of all.

>>> Photo via San Antonio Police Department Twitter page