U.S. VI Officer Killed In Line Of Duty Receives Tribute At MIA

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A U.S. Virgin Islands police officer died in a Miami hospital over the weekend, four months after being shot in the line of duty.

Thursday, the body of Officer Colvin Georges was sent back home for burial as local police paid tribute to the fallen officer.

"I don't want anybody to forget him because he was a kind person to all knew him," said George's fiancé, Camilia Thompson, who spent the last four months at his side.

Officer Colvin Georges was shot in the neck May 26th while on duty working with his Special Operations team in St. Thomas.  He approached two men after a shooting and they opened fire on him and his partner.  The officers fired back and killed one of the men.  Georges, who was paralyzed, was flown to Miami June 26th for treatment at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

"He was going through, having difficulty breathing all the time.  He became very depressed.  If anyone knew Colvin they'd know he was not the type of person to just lie down there and depend on other people to do stuff for him," said Thompson.

He remained paralyzed from the neck down and in critical condition until his death Saturday September 29th.

Thompson said many South Florida police officers showed their support over the last few months by stopping by George's hospital room.

"When all the officers would come to visit he said he's a celebrity now," said Thompson with a laugh.

Many of those officers went to the airport Monday to see his body off.

"He was a SWAT officer and we wanted to show support.  Internationally or locally, we are like brothers in arms," said Miami-Dade SWAT officer Dexter Fletcher.

Thursday morning, a police procession accompanied his body from a Hollywood funeral home to Miami International Airport.

After a water cannon salute, police loaded George's flag adorned casket into an American Airlines jet which took off for Virgin Islands.