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Hundreds Gather At The Funeral Of Officer Ashley Guindon, The Rookie Cop Killed On Her First Day At Work

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 09:19 PST, Mar 1, 2016

Hundreds of people gathered to pay their last respects to Prince William County Officer Ashley Guindon who was killed on her first day at job last Saturday, NY Daily News reports.

Funeral services were held for Ashley at the Hylton Memorial Chapel, in Woodbridge, Virginia. Prior to the funeral service, Ashley’s body was kept for a two-hour public viewing. Hundreds of people attended the service, which included officers from all over the area. Several people from the surrounding area had also come to pay their respects to Ashley Guindon. As the hearse carrying Guindon’s body reached the church, officers saluted. Several people were visibly choked and had tears in their eyes.

The funeral service was officiated by Father Gerard Creedon who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” to the sea of people assembled there. Creedon said that he hoped “the loss felt in Guindon’s unconscionable dismissal from this life might signal an end to the violence.”

Prince William County Police Chief Stephan M. Hudson said during the funeral, “Ashley accomplished more in 28 years than I could in 100.”

The entire funeral service was live-cast on YouTube as well. You can view the service in its entirety here. The video of the two-hour long service is embedded below.

Twenty-eight-year-old Ashley Guindon was sworn in on Friday and was was responding to a call about a domestic incident along with two other officers on Saturday when she was killed. Upon reaching the home from where they received an emergency call, they were confronted by Ronald Hamilton, the accused, at the door armed with a rifle. Without warning, he fired at the officers, injuring Ashley’s co-officers. Ashley Guindon was fatally shot and died soon. She and the others were taken to the Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Ashley Guindon grew up in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and was a cheerleader and a member of the Jr. Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. Known as a “fashionista,” she was the only daughter of Sharon Nowack Guindon and her father, the late David Guindon. She graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2011 with a degree in aeronautical sciences. Later, she came to Virginia for her graduate studies and worked as an intern for the Prince William County Police Department’s forensics bureau. In 2015, Ashley graduated from the Prince William Criminal Justice Academy. She could not complete the field training program and was rehired in 2016 and was on her way to complete the program now. On the day she was hired, a photo was posted by the official Twitter handle of the Prince William County Police Department. She was joined by another officer, Steven Kendall.

Meanwhile, the identities of the other officers who were injured in the incident have not been revealed yet. Police have confirmed that the person who shot the officers, 32-year-old Ronald Hamilton, surrendered to the police. Before police officers reached his home, he had already killed his wife, Crystal Hamilton. Crystal was the one who had made a frantic 911 call. Her body was found in a bathroom inside the home later.

Ronald Hamilton was later found to be an Army staff sergeant. He has been charged with capital murder in Guindon’s death and first-degree murder for his wife’s death. Ronald has admitted to his crime and did not deny he shot dead his wife and attacked the three officers who arrived at his home. Investigation is still underway and they have not established a clear motive behind the murders.

Meanwhile, The Prince William County Police Association has announced that it has an “Officer Guindon Memorial Fund” for anyone who wishes to donate money for Ashley Guindon’s family. More details here:

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

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