Minneapolis police officer buried in New Haven – NBC Connecticut

Hundreds gathered at Hillhouse High School in New Haven to commemorate fallen Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell’s final week in the line of duty.

“Here we are again in Connecticut with mourning ribbons on our signs,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.

On Monday, a final farewell was held for the late Officer Mitchell, who was buried in his hometown of New Haven.

“Jamal Mitchell embodied all that is good about the men and women of the Minneapolis Police Department and the men and women who serve in the police profession,” said Police Chief O’Hara.

Family, police officers from across the region and hundreds of others gathered to remember Officer Mitchell, who was killed in an ambush while responding to a 911 call in Minneapolis on May 30.

“Jamal was courageous through and through. He was compassionate and deeply committed to our cause, especially today. Jamal was a heroic man to the end,” said Chief O’Hara.

The ceremony was filled with prayers and songs and concluded with a eulogy from Mitchell’s 101-year-old great-grandmother, Apostle Martha Green.

“I believe God told him to leave his relatives and go to Minnesota. He had work to do there, and after he finished, he was sent home,” she said.

Green and others spoke of a man of character who fulfilled his vow to serve his community until the end.

“Jamal wasn’t just on the front lines in his patrol car. He was in the classrooms and schools. He taught. He waved. Jamal knew that a smile is a smile in any language,” said Ronnell Higgins, commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Safety.

Following the service, Officer Mitchell was buried in a private ceremony at a cemetery in New Haven.