COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — Thousands of law enforcement officers and first responders joined community members at a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho high school on Saturday to honor and remember fallen police Sgt. Greg Moore, who was shot and killed Tuesday while on patrol.
Court records say Jonathan Renfro, 26, confessed to the crime during an interview with law officers. He has been charged with first degree murder.
During services for the 43-year-old Moore at the Lake City High School, his friends, family and fellow officers remembered him as a devoted and generous family man, dedicated public servant and big-hearted hard-worker with a sense of humor.
Moore died Tuesday evening after he was shot in the head early that morning while on patrol in a residential neighborhood on the city’s northwest side. He had stopped to check on a man walking down a dark street, and the man allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot Moore, then stole his patrol car and fled, according to The Spokesman Review in Spokane.
Moore not only touched the hearts of the people closest to him, he also touched the people he saw every day, said Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White.
The testimony to the impact Moore’s life had on the community was evident as he lay dying in the hospital, White said. Not only did Coeur d’Alene officers line the hallway, but hundreds of doctors, orderlies and health staff did, too, he said.
White struggled with emotions has he described Moore’s approach to his job.
“There’s one truth that never fades in this business and that’s that we are our very best when times are the very worst,” he said. “We have chosen a profession in which live can be fragile.”
Moore was killed protecting the life and property of the citizens of the region, he said. And he was good at his job.
“Greg knew how to find bad guys,” White said. “It was always a challenge for the other guys to catch the bad guys quickly because they knew Sgt. Moore would show up, find them, and then razz them.”
Coeur d’Alene Detective Johann Schmitz, one of Moore’s closest friends, said he “didn’t view those who violated the law as enemies to be vanquished.
“He was always fair and never held a grudge,” Schmitz said. “After 16 years, he resisted urge to be jaded. He felt there was no one beyond saving.”
At the end of the service, a bell rang 21 times and pall bearers carried the flag-draped casket from the auditorium. A lengthy procession of law enforcement vehicles accompanied Moore’s body to his final resting place at Forest Cemetery.
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