Slain police officer is laid to rest in hometown
Reporting from Allentown, Pa. — Before he went on to his career as a police officer in Washington state, Mark Renninger was born and raised in Bethlehem, Pa., and on Friday, more than 1,000 people from his hometown gathered to say farewell to the man who was gunned down with three fellow officers last week near Seattle.
Residents braved numbingly cold winds outside Liberty High School, where Renninger was a standout strong safety and an A student, to watch the funeral procession. The procession, which lasted most of the day and wound throughout the city, drew family, friends, police officers and people who had never met Renninger but had heard what happened in a coffee shop in Lakeland, Wash., on Nov. 29.
Sgt. Renninger, 39, was killed along with Officers Ronald Owens, Tina Griswold and Greg Richards. The alleged gunman, Maurice Clemmons, was shot dead by police two days later.
On Friday, the horse-drawn caisson carrying Renninger’s casket was followed by Bethlehem police horse Raven, which walked riderless with boots backward in the stirrups -- a traditional send-off to a fallen warrior. Renninger had been an Army Ranger and a SWAT trainer.
Bethlehem firefighter Kevin Landis held his 2-year-old son, Max, in his arms as they watched. “I hope this is the last time you’ll ever see something like this,” Landis told his son quietly.
Earlier at Liberty High, the crowd stood in silence as a police honor guard placed the flag-draped casket on the caisson. Bagpipers from the school’s band played “Amazing Grace” as the horses clopped away, starting their 1.6-mile journey to the cemetery. Among those who watched the funeral procession was Nilda Rodriguez.
“When I heard about it, it was really sad. . . . I just said, ‘I have to go see him,’ ” said Rodriguez of Bethlehem, who added that her daughters had been friends with one of Renninger’s brothers in school.
At the memorial service, Bethlehem Boys and Girls Club Director Gary Martell recalled how Renninger, starting from age 5, spent a lot of time at the club. Over the years, he was always ready to help, cutting grass or arranging wrestling matches. Martell described Renninger as unassuming and humble.
“If Mark were standing here with me,” Martell said, “I would say, ‘Well, Mark, what a ceremony, what a big crowd.’ And he would turn to me and say, ‘I know, Gary. What’s the big fuss for?’ ”
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