An emotional viewing was held for 28-year-old Hollywood Police officer Yandy Chirino in Miami Lakes Sunday.
Officer Chirino was gunned down while responding to reports of a man breaking into cars in the Emerald Hills neighborhood of Hollywood on Sunday, October 17.
Chirino was only with the department for four and half years before his death.
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“It’s very difficult, even though we didn’t know him personally, but as a brother in law enforcement we are all brothers,” Lee Milstein, President of Blue Knights Florida Chapter 4 said.
Law enforcement from across the country gathered at Vista Memorial Gardens in Miami Lakes to pay their respects.
“Let the family know there’s a family not just locally but across the country,” Sgt. John McFarland of the NYPD said.
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McFarland is also part of the Brotherhood for the Fallen, an organization that helps families of officers who die in the line of duty.
“We all feel these deaths...even after we all leave and go home, there’s a support network,” McFarland said.
The memorial service will be held Monday at 10 a.m. at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise. The service will be open to the public, with doors opening at 8:30 a.m.
Police say there may have been witnesses in the cars in the neighborhood when investigators say Officer Chirino was shot and killed by 18-year-old Jason Banegas.
Chirino was the first officer to make contact with Banegas after calls of a suspicious person on a bike was going from house to house, trying to break into cars.
The teen suspect told investigators he was trying to shoot and kill himself with the stolen gun he pulled out as Officer Chirino tried to arrest him during a struggle.
On Thursday afternoon, a United Airlines flight landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport delivering the U.S. honor flag to the Hollywood Police Honor Guard for use in Chirino’s upcoming services.
