A public memorial service was held Friday for a federal officer killed last month outside the Federal Building in Oakland, California.
David Patrick Underwood, 53, was laid to rest on Friday after being shot and killed on May 29 outside Oakland’s Federal Building around 10 p.m. during the George Floyd protests and the subsequent rioting, KGO reported.
Nearly 600 law enforcement officers, family, and friends attended the event for the two-hour ceremony in Pinole, California, at the high school where Underwood was a superb baseball player in the 1980s.
Some people wore masks; others did not. Social distancing was mostly ignored as people packed in to pay tribute to Underwood for one last time. Underwood’s body lay in a blue casket on a gold stand.
Underwood’s sister said these past few weeks have “been a roller coaster, a horrifying roller coaster.”
Officials say Underwood’s May 29 murder took place after a white van drove by and a shooter fired at Underwood and another police officer. An active-duty Air Force member by the name of Steven Carrillo was eventually arrested on the suspicion that he went to Oakland with an accomplice to “kill cops.”
Underwood was guarding the Federal Building while a large demonstration was taking place nearby over the death of George Floyd.
“We are all traumatized by the way Patrick lost his life. He was such an outstanding person. Proud humanitarian, worked hard,” said George Phillips, Underwood ‘s lifelong friend. “For people of color, for Black people, there has been a pandemic for over 400 years, we have never found a vaccine. It is time we found a vaccine,” Phillips added.
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, also spoke at the service.
“Officer Underwood gave his life protecting us and we owe him, and his family and colleagues, a debt of gratitude we will never be able to fully repay,” said Wolf.
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