Vigil held for only Vegas cop killed in massacre
Hartfield, 34 and a married father of two, was off duty and attending the big country music festival
Veronica Hartfield, widow of slain Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Officer Charleston Hartfield, and their son Ayzayah Hartfield, 15, and daughter Savannah Hartfield, 9, attend a vigil for Charleston Hartfield at Police Memorial Park on October 5, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Charleston Hartfield, who was off duty at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 1, was killed when Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd killing at least 58 people and injuring more than 450. The massacre is one of the deadliest mass shooting events in US history. PHOTO: AFP
LAS VEGAS:
Hundreds of Las Vegas police and their families paid an emotional, candle-lit farewell Thursday night to the only officer among the 58 people killed in last weekend's shooting rampage.
Charleston Hartfield, 34 and a married father of two, was off duty and attending the big country music festival that became a shooting range for retired accountant Stephen Paddock as he attacked with high-power rifles from a 32nd-floor hotel room.
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As a cop, Hartfield had been assigned to a conflict prevention task force in the southeast of the city. He had just published a book about his life in the police force, which he joined in 2011. Hartfield was a military veteran who also coached football.
Several colleagues took to the podium at the memorial ceremony held beside a monument to fallen officers at the city's police academy.
"No one really planned to say goodbye to Charlie so soon," said Steve Grammas of the local police union.
Las Vegas shooting: What we know
Jake Grunwald, who graduated from the police academy with Hartfield, choked back tears as he said the late officer "made us strong, our platoon" when it came to enduring the tough training regime at the academy.
The night of the shooting, when Hartfield failed to answer phone text messages, colleagues thought it was because he was helping wounded people. Then they learned he was among the dead. Nearly 500 people were wounded in Paddock's shooting rampage. His motive remains unknown.
Hundreds of Las Vegas police and their families paid an emotional, candle-lit farewell Thursday night to the only officer among the 58 people killed in last weekend's shooting rampage.
Charleston Hartfield, 34 and a married father of two, was off duty and attending the big country music festival that became a shooting range for retired accountant Stephen Paddock as he attacked with high-power rifles from a 32nd-floor hotel room.
iPhone saves woman's life during Las Vegas shooting spree
As a cop, Hartfield had been assigned to a conflict prevention task force in the southeast of the city. He had just published a book about his life in the police force, which he joined in 2011. Hartfield was a military veteran who also coached football.
Several colleagues took to the podium at the memorial ceremony held beside a monument to fallen officers at the city's police academy.
"No one really planned to say goodbye to Charlie so soon," said Steve Grammas of the local police union.
Las Vegas shooting: What we know
Jake Grunwald, who graduated from the police academy with Hartfield, choked back tears as he said the late officer "made us strong, our platoon" when it came to enduring the tough training regime at the academy.
The night of the shooting, when Hartfield failed to answer phone text messages, colleagues thought it was because he was helping wounded people. Then they learned he was among the dead. Nearly 500 people were wounded in Paddock's shooting rampage. His motive remains unknown.