© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

Thousands Mourn At Police Officer's Funeral In Springfield Mass.

Thousands came out Friday to pay their last respects to a veteran Springfield Massachusetts police officer who was shot dead earlier this week after responding to a domestic dispute..  WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief  Paul Tuthill reports.

        Springfield Police Officer Kevin Ambrose was remembered for his fun loving spirit, his sense of humor, athletic prowess and his dedication to family, friends and the citizens of Springfield, whom he served for 36 years. 

        Speaking at the funeral mass, Springfield Police Commissioner William Fitchet said Ambrose name will be spoken with reverence by future generations of police officers and his spirit will be with every cop who hits the streets.

        Police say Ambrose, who was 55,  died a hero as he tried to protect a woman and her infant daughter from her  estranged boyfriend. The gunman, a New York City Corrections Officer, shot Ambrose twice, critically wounded the woman and then took his own life with a gunshot to the chest.

        Ambrose was the first Springfield police officer to die in the line of duty in 27 years. A former partner, now retired Springfield police officer Ray Muise said as young policemen they thought themselves to be invulnerable, but they did talk about …what if?

        Muise said Ambrose was one of the toughest officers he’d ever worked with, but had the ability thanks to his sense of humor to be able to quickly defuse a tense situation. Commissioner Fitchet said Ambrose was tough, but never mean. 

        Rev. Joseph Soranno, the Ambrose family’s parish priest, said Ambrose worked hard to provide a good life for his family, his wife of  30 years, their two children and 4 year old granddaughter, whom he was especially proud of.

        St. Catherine of Siena Church was packed with 900 mourners, including family, friends, Springfield Police officers and dignitaries including  Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Attorney General Martha Coakley,  US Senator Scott Brown, Congressman Richard Neal and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.

        The audio of the hour-long service was played on loudspeakers for a large crowd that gathered outside the church.

        A solemn procession of  Springfield police, and honor guards from several police departments escorted the hearse from the church to a cemetery less than a mile away.  Leading the way was the police cruiser Ambrose was driving when he answered what turned out to be his final call.  A black sash was draped on the driver’s side door.  A poster with Ambrose’s badge number 7, with a black bar across it, was displayed in the rear window.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.