ROCKWELL CITY, Iowa – At least 1,000 law enforcement officers and much of the small Iowa community of Rockwell City have gathered to mourn the death of a 24-year-old police officer nearly a week after he and another officer were gunned down in their patrol cars.
Residents and officers packed into a middle school gymnasium Tuesday to remember Justin Martin, a rookie officer in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale who grew up in Rockwell City.
An Urbandale man is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 2 shooting deaths of Martin and 38-year-old Des Moines police Sgt. Anthony Beminio.
Speaking at the service, Urbandale Police Chief Ross McCarty described the "great pain" of Martin's death, saying the department was "not prepared to have his life stolen from us."
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