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A snowstorm that swept the Chicago area overnight did not stop a large number of police from descending into the northwestern suburbs of Des Plaines Monday morning to attend the funeral of the Chicago police officer, Samuel Jimenez, fallen in battle.
Teams using shovels and plows worked feverishly on Monday morning to clear sidewalks and car parks outside St. Joseph's Chapel, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where family, friends and the other officers will remember this policeman a late morning service.
Chicago police of all ranks, dressed in blues tailor, began to visit the chapel when the winter storm that delivered more than 7 inches of snow in the area finally calmed down. Light bursts of wind sent the snow swirling through the air as other agents began coordinating the burial logistics using walkie talkies and crews. television news prepared for their broadcasts.
Blue ribbons adorned the trees on the church grounds as well as the wrought iron fence of the All Saints Catholic Cemetery along River Road, south of the church. A contingent of police vehicles began to climb outside the church for the procession that will follow the funeral mass.
Jimenez, a husband and father of three, was killed a week ago while he was answering a call at the Mercy Hospital and Medical Center. The officer was one of three people fatally shot by an armed man who had confronted his former fiancée at the hospital. Dr. Tamara O'Neal, 38, who had previously had a relationship with the gunman, and Dayna Less, 24, a pharmacist, were also killed. Officials said the shooter was hit once in the stomach by police fire before shooting himself in the head.
Mass for Jimenez will begin at 11 am at the church located on the grounds of the Maryville Academy, at 1170 N. River Road, in Des Plaines. Jimenez and his family regularly attended Mass at the Des Plaines Church, which was to accommodate about 1,000 people.
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago is supposed to be the main celebrant of the Mass. Superintendent of the Chicago Police. Eddie Johnson, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Bruce Rauner are also scheduled to speak to the service.
Hundreds of police and others sailed the snowy terrain and began to go to the church for service. In addition to Chicago police officers and departments from northern Illinois, an officer from New York and several from Boston have visited here. An orchestra began to settle near the sanctuary.
Several other officers, most of whom are at the rank of sergeant or above, have distributed programs for the service. The program's cover featured a picture of Jimenez in his police uniform, under the words "Always Remembered", engraved on a purple ribbon. Inside, the show featured photos of Jimenez with his children and others with him, alongside other officers. And at the back of the program was a photo of Jimenez and his wife kissing on what appeared to be Navy Pier, the Chicago skyline in the background.
After the funeral mass, a police processional will visit a nearby cemetery for a private burial. Officials said the procession would head east on the central avenue of the chapel and then south on Milwaukee Avenue until the entrance to the cemetery.
"The important thing is that we remember Sam, we think about his family and all his colleagues," said Marc Buslik, District Commander of Town Hall, where Jimenez worked for a short time. "It's a terrible thing and despite everything, we have lost a colleague, lost a friend and, frankly, something stupid."
Although Buslik said he had met many young officers passing through his district, Jimenez was easy to remember.
"In this period of law and order transformation, Sam understood that we did not just want warriors, we wanted guards," Buslik said. "And the cruel irony is that he lost his life by being the warrior trying to save other people. It's really something that hurts us. We all understand that it is our life and that we must now support his family now. "
Jimenez had been with the department for just under two years when he was shot in the back of the neck while performing his duties. He had sent an email to his partner when they found the police presence at the hospital around 3:20 pm and went to help.
Jimenez was shot a few minutes after arriving at Near South Side Hospital, according to accounts. He was later pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The young officer had met his wife more than ten years earlier and the couple would have celebrated his first wedding anniversary next month.
READ MORE: Agent Jimenez was about to start promising and worked well with the community.
Jimenez joined the force in February 2017 and quickly impressed his superiors.
"It was a policeman from the ideal community," said Leonard McGee, who met Jimenez at the District Beat Beat 211 meeting led by McGee. "His respect for the people in the community, the way he approached people … He had the general skills to be an excellent policeman. He was the incarnation of the new police. "
Jimenez studied at Foreman High School in Chicago and at Northeastern Illinois University, where he studied Spanish, officials said. Before joining the police department, Jimenez had held mail posts and a civilian detention assistant in charge of guarding police department premises, according to police officials.
After graduating from the police academy, Jimenez was assigned to the Town Hall District to be trained there before being posted to Wentworth on the south side. In his department, he received two honorable mentions.
The visit took place from 15h to 21h. Sunday at Oehler Funeral Home in Des Plaines.
Jimenez was the second Chicago policeman killed in the line of duty this year. In February, the Cmdr. Paul Bauer was shot in downtown Chicago.
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