MANCHESTER, N.H. – Hundreds of police officers on bicycles, motorcycles, horses and on foot marched more than three miles Saturday to honor a colleague gunned down while on bike patrol.
Along with a riderless horse, the traditional symbol of a fallen officer, the procession included Officer Michael Briggs' bicycle, which was mounted on a Manchester cruiser.
Briggs, 35, was shot in the head in a dark alley Monday as he responded to a domestic violence call. He died the next day.
The procession took Briggs' coffin past City Hall and the Manchester police headquarters before solemnly making its way to the stadium where Briggs often brought his young sons to watch baseball games.
At the funeral home, Officer Charles Panica recalled working a concert with Briggs when a group of known troublemakers turned to Briggs and said hi. "They showed as much respect for him as he did for them," Panica said.
On Friday, about 300 members of the public waited in the rain for their turn to pay respects after police.
Michael Addison, 26, was charged with capital murder in Briggs' shooting. He was arrested Monday in Boston, and remains jailed on $2 million bail while he fights his return to New Hampshire where prosecutors have vowed to seek the death penalty.
Authorities say Briggs was shot 15 minutes before the end of his shift, when he and a fellow bicycle patrol officer responded to a domestic violence call involving a gunshot. Briggs' gun never left his holster, but prosecutors say two other officers shot back as the gunman escaped.
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