4/26/11 - Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Officer Eric Zapata Funeral

Kalamazoo Public Safety Officer Eric Zapata, 35, became the first officer in the city's history to be killed in the line of duty on April 18, 2010. Officer Zapata was backing up another officer at a late night shots fired call when he was murdered by a man with a high powered rifle. Police and fire personnel from several states attended the funeral for the 10-year veteran officer on Tuesday, April 26. Following services held at the Miller Auditorium on the campus of Western Michigan University, an honor procession was held on a 13.5 mile route through the City of Kalamazoo. The publicized route was marked by american flags and lined with citizens and business people who waited by the street to pay respects and show their appreciation. The procession took nearly 40 minutes to completely pass by. Hundreds of marked police units came from as far away as Niagra Falls, New York and marked fire units from as far away as Middlebury, Indiana. Officer Zapata is survived by his three children, parents and other family members.