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Officer Mathew Rittner
Milwaukee Police officer Matthew Rittner was shot and killed last week while serving a search warrant. Today was his 36th birthday. He was a former Marine who served two tours in Iraq before joining the Milwaukee Police force. He was the third MPD officer killed on duty in the last eight months; two were shot, and one in an automobile accident.
There was a procession today from the church in Oak Creek to the funeral home in Brookfield that wound through several parts of the city that were significant to him. I don’t know exactly how many vehicles were in the procession, but it was an amazing site. It was *miles* long, all squad cars and emergency vehicles with their flashing lights on. I passed by the head of the procession on my way home from work just as it was entering the south end of the Hoan bridge on the south side of Milwaukee, and passed the end of the procession near the airport about 20 minutes and three or four miles later – and my route didn’t parallel the route of the procession. Right by where I passed the end of the procession, on a bridge over the freeway the St. Francis Fire Department had a ladder truck with a flag hanging from the extended ladder.
Officer Rittner was a Brewers fan and was married on the field at Miller Park before a game, though inadvertently. The wedding was scheduled at the stadium, and then due to a hurricane, a Brewers series that was supposed to be played in Miami was moved to Milwaukee instead. The team worked around it.
Published in General
I was headed East towards city back on my way home from work. It was very impressive – I’m heartened that he received such a fine send off.
Here is a link to some photos, including a couple of various points of the line of vehicles. Touching, heartening, sad.
God bless him and his family.
He will find the streets in heaven are guarded by his brother Marines.
Semper Fi, End of Watch, Rest in peace Officer Rittner.
God bless our brave men and women who work tirelessly to make our streets safe. It’s always sad when one of them falls. God bless Officer Rittner and his family, and may he rest in peace.
That is terrible and very sad. I have seen those police funerals and firefighters – same – they are very long – sometimes coming from all over the country and it breaks your heart to see – but they are brothers and sisters on the front lines – true soldiers in a civilian way – they give everything.