In Auburn Hills, an Oakland deputy sheriff mourned a day after the killing of a Hillsdale police officer

Hundreds of police officers from across southeast Michigan and as far away as Ohio and Canada gathered in Auburn Hills on Friday to pay their final respects to one of their own who was killed in the line of duty.

Bradley Reckling, a nine-year veteran of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, was killed Saturday night when the teens he was pursuing in a stolen SUV stopped the vehicle on Detroit’s east side, got out and shot him multiple times at close range. Reckling led other officers on a lengthy chase of the teens that began earlier in the day when a Chevrolet Equinox was stolen from Red Oaks Waterpark, the county’s large public facility in Madison Heights.

Three teenagers are in custody. The incident shocked emergency responders in Michigan and caused a second death on Thursday. A Hillsdale County police officer was killed in a shooting about 20 miles south of Jackson.

“We are praying for the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office as we have lost another deputy,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said on the department’s Facebook page Thursday evening.

Reckling’s smiling picture was added to the top of the page this week, next to that of Oakland Deputy Eric Overall, who died in the line of duty in 2017 when he was struck by a fleeing man’s car.

Reckling, 30, was married and the father of three daughters, ages 5, 4 and 1, and his wife, Jacqueline, is expecting a fourth child, Bouchard said. Less than two weeks before his funeral, on Father’s Day, the family’s church in Auburn Hills held a service called “No Joke, You’re a Dad.” On Friday, mourners crowded into the Apostolic Church on Squirrel Road and said tearful goodbyes to a respected detective, beloved colleague, churchgoer and neighbor, husband and father.

Reckling is the seventh Oakland County Sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty in the department’s 200-year history, and his death was the first line-of-duty assault death in more than eight decades, a spokesman said.

On Friday, when viewing hours ended at 3 p.m., the church parking lot was filled with hundreds of officials, all wearing the dress uniforms of their respective departments, lined up outside the entrance where a hearse was parked.

A veteran of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, who declined to give his name, said Deputy Reckling was “just starting out with the stolen car task force.” The night Reckling was shot “may have been his first chase for a stolen car, or one of his first,” the official said.

A guard of honor was formed at the entrance to the church, its members wearing white globes. Media representatives were asked to stand about 100 yards away. We parked two fire department ladder trucks at the entrance to the parking lot. Their extended ladders formed an arch from which hung a large American flag, waving under the gray sky.

The service was led by three church leaders, led by Bishop Roland Baker – the names are listed in a church program, the cover of which features Reckling’s smiling face next to the words “Honor, Duty, Courage.” The eulogies were given by “family and friends” and Bouchard, Oakland County’s top police officer since 1999.

After the 90-minute service, hundreds of officials regrouped outside the church in a light rain. Nearby, rows of dignitaries stood, including Oakland County Executive David Coulter and U.S. Rep. John James. Family members gathered near the hearse, including Reckling’s widow, who held the couple’s 1-year-old daughter.

After long minutes of silence, a dirge of bagpipes rose from the church, suddenly becoming louder as ten pipers appeared with a group of drummers behind them and continued playing as the pallbearers wheeled the casket out. Next came a deafening 21-gun salute fired by seven members of an honor guard in the traditional three volleys. Finally, a bugler’s soft tattoo played, its notes momentarily drowned out by a county helicopter roaring low overhead, passing west of the church and quickly disappearing, as if to demonstrate how quickly a life of energy can end.

Soon a call rang out through the ranks of officers: “To unity! Prepare for the final salute!” In front of the assembled troops stood Bouchard, in white gloves and with six gold stars on navy blue sleeves. His and hundreds of other eight hands slowly rose to their foreheads as a group of motorcycles passed, followed by the hearse and then dozens of police vehicles, all with flashing lights, some with blaring sirens,

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