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Thousands attend funeral of slain Utah police officer
Firefighters and police accompany the casket of Jared Francom in Ogden, Utah, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012. The police officer was killed during a drug raid shootout last week.
(Credit: KSL)The vast majority of the 4,000 people in attendance were officers who traveled to Weber State University to honor Ogden police officer Jared Francom, who died Jan. 4 in a shootout that left five other narcotics officers and a suspected pot-grower wounded.
"What a sight to see," Travis Francom told mourners while looking around the arena. "I know my brother would be proud, because we all are his family."
Jared Francom was with nearly a dozen others from the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Task Force trying to serve a search warrant when the shooting broke out on Jan. 4.
The 30-year-old loved his job so much that he found it hard to take a night off, said Shane Keyes, a strike force colleague. When he did, he checked in with team members by phone and text to see if they were safe and if he was missing a big or exciting case.
"That saying - `a cop's cop' - that was made for a guy like Jared," Keyes said.
Another brother, Ben Francom, said Jared was an "adrenaline junkie" who loved skydiving and had a "go big or go home attitude." But he was also a lighthearted person.
"He loved to crack jokes or to smile, just to keep the mood light and keep everyone around him less stressed," he said.
Francom was also remembered for his passion for the Dallas Cowboys, and for the wife and two young daughters he called each night he was on duty.
"He always ended every phone call with how much he loved his girls and missed them and couldn't wait to see them," Keyes said.
Of the five other wounded officers, three remain hospitalized, but all had been upgraded to fair condition by Tuesday and one - Shawn Grogan - was brought to Wednesday's funeral in an ambulance.
Suspect Matthew David Stewart was cornered in a backyard shed before he was shot by police. When doctors clear him for release, the 37-year-old Army veteran will be immediately arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, marijuana cultivation and eight counts of attempted aggravated murder, Weber County Attorney Dee W. Smith said.
Smith has also said he'll pursue the death penalty against Stewart.
Stewart's father, a 67-year-old private investigator, said he was in grief for the fallen officers but angry that authorities stormed his son's house for a pot offense. Michael Stewart believes his son was abruptly awakened before the start of his Walmart nightshift and that he "got into a fight and tried to get away."
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