On Monday, April 29th, four officers were killed, and four others were wounded during a shootout with an armed suspect while attempting to serve an arrest warrant at a residence in an east Charlotte neighborhood.
The four officers killed in the attack were identified as: Joshua Eyer, an officer with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD); William Elliott and Sam Poloche, both of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction; and Thomas Weeks, a deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service.
First Baptist Church of Charlotte hosted the memorial service for Eyer.
At the beginning of the service, FBC Charlotte’s Senior Pastor Rob Wilton welcomed Eyer’s family, friends and fellow officers by pledging support on behalf of the church and the broader Christian community.
He said, “We stand with you in your grief, ready to offer support, comfort and hope as we journey through this time of mourning. Jesus has declared these words in our mourning: ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’”
Collectively, the four officers who died leave behind families with a total of eight children, many of whom are very young.
Churches across Charlotte spent time in focused prayer in the aftermath of the tragedy mentioning the officers and their families by name and praying for the safety and protection of law enforcement officers and other first responders.