Aug 8, 2008 8:54 am US/Pacific
Hundreds Mourn At Slain Deputy's Funeral
LOS ANGELES
Hundreds of uniformed Southland law enforcement officers attended a funeral Friday for one of their own who was gunned down outside his home as he was leaving for work.
Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Juan Escalante, 27, was killed Saturday morning in front of his family's home in Cypress Park.
He had been a sheriff's deputy for two-and-a-half years and guarded dangerous prisoners, including members of the Mexican Mafia, at the county's Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles. Authorities are investigating whether his job may have led to his death.
The funeral was held at the downtown Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, where Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and police Chief William Bratton were among the mourners.
Part of Temple Street in front of the cathedral was shut down. At the top of the street, two fire trucks were parked facing one another with their ladders extended and crossed to drape a large American flag between them.
At 9 a.m. Escalate's flag-draped coffin was carried into the cathedral by white-gloved officers, as hundreds of uniformed law enforcement officials watched.
Officers hugged and exchanged words of condolence as they filed inside.
Media were asked to remain outside. They were also barred from attending his burial at Resurrection Cemetery in Montebello.
Escalante, his wife and their three children were living with his parents but were preparing to buy a home in Pomona.
The funeral service will be at 9 a.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles, with burial following at Resurrection Cemetery in Montebello. Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and police Chief William Bratton are expected to be among the mourners.
Detectives have been investigating whether Escalante was killed because of his job at the jail, where he guarded violent inmates, including members of the Mexican Mafia gang, which has been known to direct street crime from behind bars.
Investigators also have been looking into whether neighborhood gang violence or a personal grudge provoked the killing.
Witnesses reported seeing a white sedan roll up shortly before shots rang out near Isabel Avenue, a gang-infested neighborhood about three miles north of the jail.
Bratton said LAPD officers this year conducted "major operations against the Avenues Gang and the Cypress Park Gang" in the neighborhood, a densely populated section of bungalows and apartment complexes just north of the Los Angeles River near the Pasadena (110) Freeway.
The Los Angeles City Council has posted a $75,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the Escalante slaying, while the county Board of Supervisors approved a $20,000 reward in the case.
At a news conference earlier this week on declining crime in the city, Villaraigosa called Escalante's murder "senseless."
"Let me just say, on behalf of all of the residents of the city of Los Angeles, how mortified we are, how horrified we are at this homicide. A good man, a man who put his life on the line. A family man, a young man who grew up in a neighborhood very close to where I've lived for a long time," Villaraigosa said.
Escalante, his wife and their three children were living with his parents but were preparing to buy a home in Pomona. The funeral service will be at 9 a.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles, with burial following at Resurrection Cemetery in Montebello. Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and police Chief William Bratton are expected to be among the mourners.Detectives have been investigating whether Escalante was killed because of his job at the jail, where he guarded violent inmates, including members of the Mexican Mafia gang, which has been known to direct street crime from behind bars.Investigators also have been looking into whether neighborhood gang violence or a personal grudge provoked the killing.Witnesses reported seeing a white sedan roll up shortly before shots rang out near Isabel Avenue, a gang-infested neighborhood about three miles north of the jail. Bratton said LAPD officers this year conducted "major operations against the Avenues Gang and the Cypress Park Gang" in the neighborhood, a densely populated section of bungalows and apartment complexes just north of the Los Angeles River near the Pasadena (110) Freeway.The Los Angeles City Council has posted a $75,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the Escalante slaying, while the county Board of Supervisors approved a $20,000 reward in the case.At a news conference earlier this week on declining crime in the city, Villaraigosa called Escalante's murder "senseless." "Let me just say, on behalf of all of the residents of the city of Los Angeles, how mortified we are, how horrified we are at this homicide. A good man, a man who put his life on the line. A family man, a young man who grew up in a neighborhood very close to where I've lived for a long time," Villaraigosa said.
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