'OUR FALLEN HERO' THOUSANDS MOURN DEPUTY SLAIN IN SHOOTOUT.Byline: Amy Raisin, Heather MacDonald and Naush Boghossian Staff Writers GLENDALE - About 5,000 mourners crowded a church and its surrounding streets Tuesday to honor slain Deputy Hagop ``Jake'' Kuredjian - a funeral stained by the tears of friends, family and colleagues. The solemn notes of bagpipes bagpipes Noun, pl a musical wind instrument in which sounds are produced in reed pipes by air from an inflated bag bagpipes npl → gaita sg bagpipes and taps, the touching picture of a grieving mother kissing a dove before releasing it to the skies and a riderless police motorcycle A police motorcycle is a motorcycle used by various police departments. They may be custom designed to meet the requirements unique of a particular department. A police motorcycle is often called a "motor" by police officers in the United States. , flowers in its stirrups stirrups The footholds in a lithotomy table , marked the farewell to the fallen deputy. ``May our fallen hero find peace in the warm embrace of God,'' Gov. Gray Davis said during Kuredjian's funeral at St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenian: Հայ Առաքելական Եկեղեցի, Hay Arakelagan Yegeghetzi), sometimes called the Armenian Orthodox Church or the in Glendale. ``May God give strength and healing to those who loved and served with him.'' As the service ended at noon, the casket was taken to a waiting hearse and escorted by hundreds of officers on motorcycles and in police cars in a milelong procession to Forest Lawn Forest Lawn is the name of a number of different places:
Sheriff's Department planes flew over in ``missing man'' formation and Kuredjian, a popular officer who loved motorcycles, received a 21-gun salute and white doves were released into the air. Kuredjian, 40, was gunned down Friday in Stevenson Ranch Stevenson Ranch, California (in the 91381 ZIP Code) is a Los Angeles County, USA, unincorporated community west of Santa Clarita a few miles south of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. The Stevenson Ranch fountain was redone in 2007. in the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. , ducking for cover as violence erupted when Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County sheriff's deputies backed up federal officials serving a search warrant to a felony suspect. ``I wish I could stand before you here today and tell you that I'm here to celebrate my brother's life,'' Raffi Kuredjian said, his voice breaking. ``I'll do that for the rest of my life. Today I am here because I am mourning his untimely murder.'' Raffi Kuredjian brought many to tears when he spoke in front of his brother's flag-draped coffin, cast in a soft glow from the crystal chandeliers that lighted the church. He stood arm-in-arm with his brother Garo, a Ventura County sheriff's deputy, in front of the ornate church's dark wood altar. Like the thousands of other law enforcement officers at the funeral, Garo Kuredjian wore his uniform, a black band stretched across his gold badge. At times, the brothers turned to each other smiling and laughing. A joke about their brother's patented smile sent a wave of halting chuckles through the crowd. The governor presented Anahid Kuredjian, with the state flag that had been lowered to half-staff Friday over the Capitol on the day her son was slain by James Allen James Allen is the name of:
felon n. a person who has been convicted of a felony, which is a crime punishable by death or a term in state or federal prison. . ``Jake was a soldier of decency, every morning putting a badge on his uniform and his life on the line,'' Davis said. ``There is no greater calling than to be of service to another human being. There is no greater love than to lay your life down for a friend. ``Our debt will be never-ending. There are not words to summon up our feeling of gratitude.'' Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (b. May 27 1942, East Los Angeles, California) is the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School (Los Angeles) in 1960, Baca worked his way through East Los Angeles College before starting with the L.A. spoke of Kuredjian with his voice breaking, saying that it is clear that Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, loved the fallen deputy. ``We're going to cry a little more,'' Baca said. ``It's not a sign of weakness, it's what every family does when it has lost one it loves.'' Kuredjian's commander at the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station remembered the deputy as a man with a smile for everyone. ``You'll always be in our hearts and minds - our brother, our friend,'' Capt. Don Rodriguez said. Raffi Kuredjian asked the mourners not to idealize i·de·al·ize v. i·de·al·ized, i·de·al·iz·ing, i·de·al·iz·es v.tr. 1. To regard as ideal. 2. To make or envision as ideal. v.intr. 1. or enlarge his brother in death. ``He should simply be remembered as a good man who saw wrong and tried to right it. He saw suffering and tried to heal it. He saw injustice and tried to stop it.'' Raffi and Garo Kuredjian bore their brother's coffin from the church, sobbing while placing it in the silver hearse waiting outside. A sea of sheriff's deputies filled the street in front of the church, saluting their fallen colleague, as a riderless horse with backward boots in the stirrups stood nearby. Officials from several police departments, the California Highway Patrol and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were represented in huge numbers. At Forest Lawn, Baca presented the American flag that had draped drape v. draped, drap·ing, drapes v.tr. 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure. Kuredjian's casket to Anahid Kuredjian. The sheriff kissed her cheeks and those of the victim's brothers and girlfriend. Perhaps the most poignant moment of the 45-minute service came when Kuredjian's mother, gray-haired and petite, was given a single white dove. She kissed the bird softly on its back, she released it skyward sky·ward adv. & adj. At or toward the sky. sky  wards adv. , a quiet sob escaping her lips as the bird left her hands. Family members then knelt over four wicker baskets festooned with flowers and released at least a dozen white doves. The birds flew in unison above the curbside service for a few minutes before flying away. Both of the victim's brothers sobbed as they watched the birds take flight. A lone bagpiper, clad in a kilt kilt Knee-length, skirtlike garment worn by men as part of the traditional national garb, or Highland dress, of Scotland. It is made of permanently pleated wool and wrapped around the wearer's waist so that the pleats are in the back and the flat ends overlap in front. , played a somber tune after a law enforcement officer trumpeted an emotional rendition of taps. About 20 minutes after the service ended and most of the mourners had gone, family and close friends gathered around the coffin as it was lowered into the ground. Garo Kuredjian blew the casket a kiss and said a quiet goodbye. Outside a reception at a home in the hills of Glendale, Kuredjian's green Ford Mustang convertible greeted well-wishers in the driveway. The car, surrounded by flowers, held the deputy's olive green sheriff's uniform on the front seat. Nestled atop a brick column in the driveway was a rectangular street sign that read Jake's Way, a road in Santa Clarita's Canyon Country neighborhood. Investigators believe that Beck shot Kuredjian on Friday morning from a bedroom on the second floor of his Stevenson Ranch home. Kuredjian was backing up federal officials serving a search warrant, investigating neighbors' claims that Beck had impersonated a U.S. marshal and held a cache of high-powered weapons. Beck died after tear gas tear gas, gas that causes temporary blindness through the excessive flow of tears resulting from irritation of the eyes. The gas is used in chemical warfare and as a means for dispersing mobs. canisters ignited the home. But during earlier telephone conversations as he stood barricaded, Beck apologized for shooting Kuredjian while vowing he would not go back to jail. Lt. Carl Deeley said Kuredjian's last words were to a fellow deputy. ```Do you have your vest on?''' Deeley said Kuredjian said. ```I've got mine. We're sure going to need them.''' On Tuesday, county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San asked the Sheriff's Department for a full report on the events leading to the shooting and the four-hour standoff that followed. Kuredjian, a native of Aleppo, Syria, became a U.S. citizen in 1982 after he immigrated to Michigan with his mother and two brothers. His father died in 1975 during violence in Lebanon. He often worked as an Armenian interpreter for the Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . and the FBI. In 1989, Kuredjian was awarded the Gold Meritorious Conduct Medal for rescuing a woman from a cliff in Malibu. He joined the Santa Clarita Valley station in 1995, after 11 years with the Sheriff's Department. After graduating from high school in Michigan, he worked as an insurance salesman. Sheriff's Capt. Rodriguez's voice shook with emotion as he recalled his fallen officer. ``Godspeed 60 Mary 2,'' Rodriguez said, referring to the deputy's radio handle. ``Godspeed our brother, our friend.'' Raffi Kuredjian concluded his speech sobbing, and bringing most of the 2,000 people in the church to tears. ``As a God-fearing family, I will not say goodbye - I will say so long, brother,'' he said. Staff writers Orith Goldberg and Troy Anderson contributed to this story. CAPTION(S): 7 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Doves are released to fly above the burial site of Deputy Hagop ``Jake'' Kuredjian on Tuesday as mourners gather at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, Hollywood Hills. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer (2 -- color) A Burbank police officer reacts tearfully at Tuesday's funeral for Deputy Hagop ``Jake'' Kuredjian. John McCoy/Staff Photographer (3 -- 6 -- color) Above, Garo, on left, and Raffi Kuredjian eulogize eu·lo·gize tr.v. eu·lo·gized, eu·lo·giz·ing, eu·lo·giz·es To praise highly in speech or writing, especially in a formal eulogy. eu their brother, Deputy Hagop ``Jake'' Kuredjian, during his funeral Tuesday at St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church in Glendale. At top left, his flag-draped casket awaits burial. Faces of mourners are reflected in the glass over the coffin. Below left, Kuredjian's motorcycle is surrounded with bouquets of flowers at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, Hollywood Hills. Below, a moment of grief unites pallbearers after loading the casket of the slain deputy into the hearse following Tuesday's funeral. Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press John McCoy/Staff Photographer Tina Burch/Staff Photographer John McCoy/Staff Photographer (7 -- color) no caption (L.A. COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFF badge) |
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