HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Latest on the funeral of an off-duty Las Vegas police officer killed when a gunman fired from a hotel into a crowded outdoor concert (all times local): 5:15 p.m. An off-duty Las Vegas police officer
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Latest on the funeral of an off-duty Las Vegas police officer killed when a gunman fired from a hotel into a crowded outdoor concert (all times local):
5:15 p.m.
An off-duty Las Vegas police officer who was killed by a gunman shooting from a hotel into a crowded country music concert has been laid to rest at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
Charleston Hartfield was buried Friday following private graveside services. Hartfield was also a veteran of the U.S. Army.
The burial came after a funeral that drew more than 2,000 family members, friends and police and military officers, with honors that included a motorcade down the Las Vegas Strip.
Central Christian Church Pastor Mike Ellingsen said the service was held in Henderson and followed by the burial in Boulder City.
The 34-year-old Hartfield was a married father of two and an 11-year police veteran who had served in Iraq and the Nevada Army National Guard in Las Vegas.
He was off-duty and attending the Oct. 1 concert where a gunman killed 58 people and injured hundreds of others in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo says Hartfield’s death was considered on-duty because he tried to shield, protect and shepherd people to safety.
————
1:50 p.m.
A motorcade bearing the flag-draped casket of an off-duty Las Vegas police officer and U.S. Army veteran who was killed by a gunman shooting from a hotel into a crowded open-air concert is heading to the Southern Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.
Charleston Hartfield’s funeral procession left a Henderson church led by a long row off police motorcycles, with lights flashing, to a place where he said in a message written in case of his death that he wanted to go.
“That way,” he said, “myself and all the crusty old vets can hold formations and continue to protect and serve our great country once more.”
Hartfield was 34, a married father of two and an 11-year police veteran who served in Iraq and the Nevada Army National Guard in Las Vegas.
He was off-duty at the Oct. 1 country music concert into which a gunman rained assault weapons fire, killing 58 people and injuring nearly 550 in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo says Hartfield’s death was considered on-duty because he tried to shield, protect and shepherd people to safety.
————
1 p.m.
The Las Vegas police officer and U.S. Army service member who was among 58 people killed in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history provided instructions ahead of time to be read at his memorial.
Central Christian Church Pastor Mike Bodine told more than 2,000 people at Charleston Hartfield’s funeral that it began, “If you’re reading this, then I’ve been called home.”
Along with heartfelt message to his family, it said people should not express sorrow about his passing but “enjoy themselves” and remember him for who he was.
“The truth only,” it said. “None of that stuff about how great I was.”
Friends, family members and police and military officials then spent more than an hour breaking his rule — including Brig. Gen. Zachary Doser, the head of the Nevada Army National Guard.
He praised Hartfield, who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq, as the epitome of everything good about being an American, and posthumously promoted him to first sergeant.
————
10 a.m.
Traffic on the Las Vegas Strip paused for a moment Friday as a blocks-long police motorcade passed the site where an off-duty officer was among 58 people killed in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
People crowded pedestrian bridges over Las Vegas Boulevard in the casino corridor as a phalanx of more than 50 police motorcycles led a pickup truck bearing the flag-draped casket of Officer Charleston Hartfield to a church in Henderson.
About 100 people, most taking photos and video, watched the motorcade pass the Mandalay Bay resort and the site of the Oct. 1 massacre.
One man bowed his head and wept as the long line passed.
Fallen Las Vegas police officers have been honored with Las Vegas Strip processions at least since the February 2006 slaying of Sgt. Henry Prendes.
————
9:45 a.m.
A funeral procession for an off-duty Las Vegas police officer who was killed by a gunman shooting from a hotel into a crowded open-air concert is heading down Las Vegas Boulevard.
A pickup truck bearing the flag-draped casket of Officer Charleston Hartfield was led by a long row off police motorcycles, with lights flashing, past downtown’s Fremont Street on the more than 5-mile (8 kilometers) trip down the Las Vegas Strip before heading to a church in Henderson.
A small crowd watched from the sidewalk as the motorcade took about 3 minutes to pass. Some saluted.
It will also go by the Mandalay Bay resort and the site of the Oct. 1 massacre, where 58 people were killed and nearly 550 were injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Fallen Las Vegas police officers have been honored with similar processions at least since the February 2006 slaying of Sgt. Henry Prendes by a man wielding an assault rifle as he responded to a domestic disturbance call at a home.
————
12:30 a.m.
An off-duty Las Vegas police officer who was killed by a gunman shooting from a hotel into a crowded open-air concert will be remembered with church and graveside ceremonies and a funeral procession.
Charleston Hartfield will be honored Friday with a Las Vegas Strip motorcade, a funeral in Henderson and private burial at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.
Hartfield was 34, a married father of two and an 11-year police veteran.
He served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and the Nevada Army National Guard in Las Vegas, and coached youth football in his hometown, Henderson.
Hartfield was one of 58 people killed and nearly 550 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
