Hundreds of officers on hand as slain Pennsylvania patrolman’s casket arrives for funeral
Hundreds of officers on hand as slain Pennsylvania patrolman’s casket arrives for funeral
RED LION, Pa. (AP) — Police vehicles from across Pennsylvania and beyond were arriving at a church Friday for the funeral of a Pennsylvania police officer who was shot and killed while coming to the rescue of medical personnel and patients during an attack on a hospital intensive care unit last weekend.
The flag-draped casket of West York Officer Andrew W. Duarte was escorted into the Living Word Community Church in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, shortly before 11 a.m., accompanied by bagpipes.
Duarte, 30, was killed while responding to a man with a gun who took hostages inside UPMC Memorial Hospital in York, Pennsylvania. The attacker, Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49, also was killed and several others were wounded.
The 1 p.m. service is closed to the public but is being livestreamed by the church. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to give remarks.
Hundreds of uniformed officers lined the roadway into the church, and a large flag was draped between two fire department ladder trucks.
Accounts of nurses who survived the attack have been shared in Facebook posts, disclosing details about their injuries and treatment and how the events have haunted those who lived through it.
York County District Attorney Tim Barker said Archangel-Ortiz appeared to have had recent contact with the intensive care unit “for a medical purpose involving another person” but didn’t elaborate.
Born in Oakland, California, Duarte had served on the West York police force since 2022. Before that, he spent five years with the Denver Police Department in Colorado, and served as a seasonal officer with the Ocean City Police Department in Maryland.
An obituary said he earned a degree in criminal justice and police science from California University of Pennsylvania and his interests included photography, guitar, hiking and traveling.
Survivors include his parents and his girlfriend.
