Newark Det. Joseph Azcona's wake, funeral plans announced
A memorial is growing in front a church near the spot where Newark Police Detective Joseph Azcona was shot dead in the line of duty Friday night.
Azcona's wake will be held at the Buyus Funeral Home Thursday, but only family, friends and fellow officers will be attending. The funeral will be held Friday morning at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.
Another officer is recovering at the hospital. Sources say the injured officer got a call from FBI Director Kash Patel who offered support.
Surveillance video shows a group running from the scene Friday. Of the five people detained, only a 14-year-old has been charged with first degree murder, attempted murder and other weapons offenses. There won't be access to his court proceedings because he's a juvenile.
Police say he shot Azcona, a member of an elite unit, before he even got out of his car.
"My heart is hurting"
"Where are their parents?" Newark Councilamn Anibal Ramos, Jr. said.
"I don't think there's another word than a hero. He died doing his job," Azcona's brother Ronnie said.
Ramos said law enforcement has been there for the Azcona family and other officers, who are still in shock.
"Tomorrow night we're having a meeting with a number of the young officers who worked with him and to provide some support. I know the Hispanic law enforcement has scheduled grief counseling for those officers, but there are a lot of questions about what happened and why it happened," Ramos said.
"I don't know. My heart is hurting, aching. So young," Elisa Roman said. "We can just imagine what they are going through, because if it's my son, I couldn't live without him."
Roman is the mother of a law enforcement officer herself. She and others are demanding the 14-year-old who has been charged and killing Azcona be prosecuted as an adult.
"He's a murderer. He shot that cop. He gotta pay the crime," one person said.
"These kids don't live the life I lived growing up here. We had basketball courts, the YMCA," another person said.
