Funeral Monday for Indiana officer shot during traffic stop
Sep 21, 2022, 12:41 AM | Updated: 12:52 pm
FILE - Evidence markers dot the scene, Aug. 10, 2022, on Richmond, Ind., where Richmond Police Department Officer Seara Burton was critically wounded and a man was injured in a shootout following a traffic stop. Burton died Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022 at a Reid Health facility surrounded by her family, the department said in a statement posted to Facebook. (Mike Emery/The Palladium-Item via AP, File)
(Mike Emery/The Palladium-Item via AP, File)
RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — The public funeral for an eastern Indiana police officer who died Sunday night after being shot in the head during a traffic stop will be held next week at a high school, her department said.
The funeral for Officer Seara Burton, 28, will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Richmond High School. Following the funeral, a procession will carry her body to Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, where she will be interred in a section dedicated to public safety heroes.
The route of the procession was not immediately released. Richmond is about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Indianapolis.
A public viewing will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Richmond Municipal Building.
The four-year veteran of the department in Richmond was critically wounded in the Aug. 10 shooting. She was moved to hospice care, two days after she was removed from life support on Sept. 1 at a hospital in Dayton, Ohio.
Prosecutors have charged Phillip Matthew Lee, 47, with three counts of attempted murder, three drug possession counts for methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. He has pleaded not guilty.
Authorities have said officers stopped Lee and called Burton to assist with her police dog. The dog indicated the possible presence of narcotics. Court documents say that while officers were speaking with the rider, he pulled out a gun and opened fire toward the officers, shooting Burton. Other officers returned fire and he ran away. Lee was apprehended following a brief foot chase.
No other officers were shot.
Lee was treated for gunshot wounds, police said.
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