News: Funeral Held for ATF Agent on LI
(Long Island, N.Y.) The funeral was held on Friday for the fifty-one-year-old ATF agent killed by friendly-fire after a pharmacy robbery and shoot out. The fallen hero had worked for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for twenty-three years prior to the New Year’s Eve incident. Sources estimated that there were over six thousand who attended the service, lining the area for several blocks long.
The service was held in Seaford at the St. William the Abbot Roman Catholic Church and lasted for two hours. A eulogy was given by the US Attorney General before the casket was brought to St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale. The slain agent had grown up on Long Island and lived in the area with his wife and two children.
The fifty-one-year-old agent was praised more for how he lived than the heroic way in which he died. Fellow agents flew cross-country to attend his service, as he was remembered for a strong commitment to work. It was revealed that some duties of his job occurred overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He was also remembered for being dedicated to his family despite the demands of his career. He took care of his mother during the time of illness before her death, which occurred just a month prior. His death has stunned the community, while his life dedicated to others continues to inspire.
According to reports, the agent had been picking up cancer medication for his father at the time of the incident. He witnessed a forty-three-year-old man attempt to rob the pharmacy by demanding painkillers and money. The man had held up the drug store with a pellet gun designed to look like a real weapon.
Two other members of law enforcement responded to the scene, a fifty-four-year-old retired Nassau County Police lieutenant and a twenty-nine-year-old off-duty NYPD officer. The lieutenant mistook the agent for the robber, fired, and killed him. The officer later gunned down and killed the suspect as he was attempting to retrieve a weapon from the sidewalk.
The fallen agent continues to be remembered by his fifteen-year-old daughter, a second-year student at St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School in West Islip. She describes her dad as a hero for what he did throughout his life, and claimed that it was in his blood to keep people safe. He is also survived by his fifty-five-year-old wife, an IRS agent, and eighteen-year-old son, a college freshman at Northeastern University.
