DOWNEY, Calif. _ As bagpipes wailed Friday morning, an honor guard escorted the flag-draped casket of slain Whittier Police Officer Keith Boyer before a crowd of law enforcement officers at Calvary Chapel Downey.
Whittier police officers removed their hats and took their seats as the coffin was placed just a few feet away from Boyer's gloves and hat.
"As I see the badges out there I see heroes," said Pastor James Kaddis. "When you come against law enforcement you come against God."
Boyer, who authorities say was gunned down last week by a reputed gang member, was 53 years old and a father of two grown sons. He was the first Whittier officer in 37 years to be killed in the line of duty.
More than 3,000 police chiefs, officers and deputies and other mourners squeezed into the church early Friday. A video screen stood amid flower tributes and displayed a photo of Boyer next to his badge. A band across the badge read: "EOW 2/20/17." (EOW is the acronym for "end of watch.")
On one side of the church stage sat Boyer's drum set _ a tribute to the avid musician who played in bands with colleagues, including Whittier Police Chief Jeff Piper.
"I cannot find the words to describe the magnitude of the loss," Piper told the gathered crowd. "In nearly 27 years of police work, Keith remained committed to his profession."
Piper said his officers had one overwhelming impression of Boyer: "Keith was Mr. Positive."
"He loved his job, he loved his colleagues, he loved his community," Piper said.
Piper recalled how Boyer played in several bands. He joked that Boyer also played with some not so talented groups _ particularly the one in which the chief played guitar.
As he began his closing remarks, Piper began to cry. His voice trembling, he told attendees that Boyer "is playing with the most magnificent band imaginable" in heaven.
Retired Whittier officer Mike Carson, a friend of Boyer's for 30 years, described the slain officer as "the kindest, sweetest, most gentle man you'd ever meet."
Boyer, Carson said, was the ultimate team player, always helping others and always working extra hours without complaint.
Boyer's children _ Joshua, Joseph and daughter Ashley Sheleretis and her husband Mike Sheleretis _ then performed on guitars and drums and sang "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)."
"My father was courageous not only in his final moments but always," Joseph Boyer said. He added that his father hated to work a desk, preferring instead to be out in his community.
The hardworking family man also had a silly side, he said, keeping a fake set of teeth to pop out at unlikely moments. And when his family opened a box inside his safe, his son said, they found it filled with the magic tricks he had impressed them with over the years.
Throughout the service, Boyer's family offered their forgiveness to his killer. Joshua Boyer told mourners that God had given him the strength to forgive the man.
Boyer's daughter led mourners in a prayer for the officers who put their lives on the line while serving others.
Since the Feb. 20 killing, Boyer's photo has stood next to a memorial for other fallen officers outside Whittier police headquarters. On Thursday evening, an honor guard stood at attention as a hearse carrying Boyer's body passed the department on the way to a public viewing at the Whittier Area Community Church.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Piper tearfully paid tribute to Boyer, a close friend who was nearing retirement.
"He was the best of the best," Piper said.
As Whittier police officers began to arrive at Calvary Chapel on Friday, they shook the white-gloved hand of Nicholas Gianesess, a New York police officer there to honor Boyer. It is the second time he has traveled across the country to honor a fallen officer.
"Thank you," a colleague of Boyer's told the NYPD officer, "it means so much, brother."
"Unfortunately even one officer lost is too many," said Gianesses, who wore an NYPD dress uniform with a Brotherhood of the Fallen badge.
Whittier Police Officer Frank Segura surveyed the large gathering of officers and their families. The loss, he said, hit the Whittier Police Department hard because it's small and tight-knit.
"It's tough for all of us," Segura said.
Boyer joined the department in 1989 as a jailer and dispatcher before being sworn as an officer in 1990. One of his pastimes was drumming for Mrs. Jones' Revenge, a classic-rock tribute band in Temecula that played at wineries and weddings.
Boyer was the third Whittier police officer slain in the line of duty in the department's 100-year history. The Whittier department includes about 128 sworn officers who patrol the cities of Whittier and Santa Fe Springs in southeastern Los Angeles County.
More than 1,000 residents attended a vigil for Boyer at police headquarters the day he was killed.
"This is a very sad day for our officers, the families involved, the Whittier Police Department and our community," Mayor Joe Vinatieri told the gathering. "But we're pulling together. And we're going to take care of these families, and we're going to take care of this police department."
On Wednesday, Michael C. Mejia was charged with capital murder in the deaths of his cousin, Roy Torres, and Boyer.
Mejia, 26, a felon with a history of drugs and violent criminal activity, is accused of killing Torres early Feb. 20 in East Los Angeles before fleeing with his cousin's car and crashing into two other vehicles at a Whittier intersection.
When Boyer and fellow Whittier Officer Patrick Hazell came to the scene of the accident, they ordered Mejia out of his car. Prosecutors say he opened fire as they approached him.
Boyer was killed and Hazell was wounded. Mejia was also wounded during the gun battle.
At the time of the killings, Mejia was under the supervision of the Los Angeles County Probation Department. Mejia had been jailed and released for violating probation five times since last summer.
