A Dallas police officer killed on the job was laid to rest Saturday.
Hundreds gathered at a funeral in the sanctuary of Watermark Community Church for Officer Darron Burks eight days after the deadly shooting.
Among a community built through a life-straddling civilian and law enforcement worlds, hundreds came together to remember the fallen officer.
“We are trying to make sense of what feels like the sharp knife of an incomplete life,” said the President of Paul Quinn College, Dr. Michael Sorrell.
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Those who served alongside Burks flanked his family in the sanctuary.
Law enforcement officers from around the nation sat alongside teachers Burks once worked with.
State and city leaders were there alongside his college classmates, fraternity brothers, and friends.
The 46-year-old was just eight months into his career as a police officer when he was gunned down during his shift last week. But though new to law enforcement, those who knew Burks said he always lived to serve.
“I heard earlier someone said that I made Darron. I didn’t make him. God made him,” Burks’s mother, Cherie Jeffrey, told those gathered.
She challenged the crowd to remember her son for his love of Christ and ability to find the good in everyone.
“That’s what my son would always do. He would do his very best,” she said.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said that after transitioning from a 17-year-career teaching at Texans Can Academy, Burks served as a leader for his police academy class and will continue to inspire those he worked alongside.
“Today reminds us all that wearing this badge comes at a cost. There’s a sacrifice to it, and everyone’s celebrating that. And there’s honor in that, there’s tremendous honor in that,” said Garcia.
The funeral was followed by a private burial at Restland Cemetery attended by family, Burke’s police academy class, and his South Central Division colleagues.
