Police Officer Killed In Pentagon Attack Laid To Rest In Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, NY — A ceremony in New York City on Monday honored the memory of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency officer killed during a violent attack earlier this month at the Pentagon.

Family members of PFPA Officer George Gonzalez were joined Monday morning by representatives from the New York City Police Department and other public safety and military groups, for a memorial ceremony in Queens.

"At the NYPD we say Fidelis ad Mortum or faithful unto death," Deputy Commissioner John Miller of the New York City Police Department said in a post on Twitter. "Officer George Gonzalez embodied this as he laid down his life protecting the Pentagon. As we vow to #NeverForget, we have another responsibility — to stand with his brother, [NYPD] Officer Rodney Rubert."

Following the ceremony in Queens, George Gonzalez was buried at a cemetery in his hometown of Brooklyn.

On the morning of Aug. 3, George Gonzalez was on the Pentagon Transit Center platform when a man exiting a bus attacked him with a knife without provocation, according to the FBI.

The assailant, whom the FBI later identified as Austin William Lanz, 27, of Acworth, Georgia, struggled with Gonzalez and then shot himself with Gonzalez's service weapon. Other PFPA officers engaged with Lanz, who died at the scene.

Gonzalez was transported to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. to be treated for severe injuries. He was pronounced dead later that evening.

The Gonzalez/Rubert family started a memorial fund by launching a GoFundMe campaign.

"Our family is heartbroken over the death of our son and brother, but we are so extremely proud of the life he lived," Gonzalez/Rubert Family said, on the GoFundMe. "George devoted himself to serving his country in the military and as a law enforcement officer."

As of 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the campaign had already raised more than $27,000.

At the NYPD we say Fidelis ad Mortum or Faithful unto Death. @PFPAOfficial Officer George Gonzalez embodied this as he laid down his life protecting the Pentagon. As we vow to #NeverForget, we have another responsibility — to stand with his brother, @NYPDCT Officer Rodney Rubert. pic.twitter.com/cQPE2TkdsY
— Deputy Commissioner John Miller (@NYPDDCPI) August 17, 2021