Officers salute as family members of slain Cleveland Detective James Skernivitz leave the A. Ripepi & Sons Funeral Home in Middleburg Heights, Ohio on Friday morning, Sept. 11, 2020. Skernivitz was killed on Sept. 3 while working undercover in Cleveland. (David Petkiewicz/Cleveland.com via AP)
CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland police detective killed in the line of duty along with a civilian last week was recalled Friday as a leader who proudly served on the force because he wanted to protect the city he grew up in.
A funeral service for Detective James Skernivitz was held at Rocket Mortgage Field House. Among those speaking at the event were city Police Chief Calvin Williams and U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
Skernivitz, 53, a married father of three and a 22-year member of the Cleveland force, was killed Sept. 3 along with Scott Dingess, 50, as they sat in the officer’s unmarked car during a drug operation on the city’s west side.
The shootings occurred during what authorities have said was an apparent attempted robbery, and happened a day after Skernivitz and other law enforcement officers had been sworn in at the Cleveland FBI office to become members of a federal anti-violence task force. Skernivitz was also assigned to the Cleveland police gang unit. Authorities have not said whether Skernivitz was working with the federal task force or the gang unit when he was killed.
David McDaniel Jr., 18, and two juvenile males, ages 15 and 17, have been charged with aggravated murder and other counts.
In a letter read on her behalf at the service, Skernivitz’s wife, Kristen, wrote that “Jim is a man no one will ever hold a candle to.”
The post Funeral Held For Cleveland Police Detective Killed In The Line Of Duty appeared first on The Village Reporter.
Source: The Village Reporter
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