‘IT WAS HORRIBLE’

Pallbearer on the Run Fatally Shot by Cops at Dad’s Funeral

Police say the man had a warrant out for his arrest and pulled a gun on officers who tried to nab him.

A man attending a West Virginia funeral service for his father this week was shot dead by law enforcement just after helping his fellow pallbearers place the casket in a hearse. The U.S. States Marshal Service said the man, who has not been identified by law enforcement, had an active warrant out for his arrest, though it was not clear on what charges. When local police and U.S. Marshals tried to take him into custody, they said, he pulled a gun, prompting officers to fire back and kill him. A woman who identified herself as the aunt of the man fatally shot, and sister of the man mourners were preparing to bury, told local news outlet WBOY-TV she had been comforting him just before gunfire erupted outside the funeral home. “I went to hug him because he was upset, and next thing I know they just yelled ‘Jason!’ and they ‘pow, pow, pow, pow, pow,’” O’Dell was quoted saying. “I felt the compressions of the bullets. It was horrible.” An investigation into the shooting is now underway by state police. WBOY-TV reports that the man had a criminal history that included an alleged attack on law enforcement.