For the second time in less than a year, a bugler today played the Last Post in tribute to a fallen Mobile police officer. Another grieving widow was handed a folded U.S. flag while she sat next to the grave of her slain husband, and many of the same law enforcement personnel that had come from all across the south once again stood vigilant and upright in their finest blue, black, white, and tan uniforms. Just as they had done 11 months ago. The funeral of slain police officer Sean Tuder, who was killed in the line of duty Sunday, marked another dark day in the history of Mobile and one that came with a sad sense of familiarity. Much of the pomp and circumstance that had taken place Feb. 27, 2018 when Mobile police officer Justin Billa was laid to rest remained, but the names had changed. Tuder, 31, was buried at the same spot, and under the same live oak tree and crisp blue winter sky as Billa was last year. The burial, which took place at Mobile Memorial Gardens, came after an emotional funeral service at Dauphin Way Baptist Church earlier Friday morning. That was then followed by a procession of vehicles that stretched for miles. Approximately 655 vehicles turned into the gates of the cemetery, including those from Louisiana, Florence and as far as Jacksonville, Florida. Preparations for Tuder’s interment would have begun days earlier as staff at the funeral home select and dig a grave in a special area known as the Heroes Garden, which is an area reserved for first responders. Gravediggers first outline the grave with small blue flags before using shovels to take out the first dirt. A reverse hoe, a mechanical digger, is then used to finish the job. Each grave is 54 inches, according to Brian Shakes, CEO of the Mobile Memorial Gardens Cemetery. Tuder’s funeral comes nearly a week after he was shot and killed while attempting to apprehend a teenage suspect at the Peach Inn Apartments in West Mobile. Sunday was Tuder’s day off, but he had requested permission to follow up on a confidential tip that a suspect he had been looking for was at the apartments. In undercover clothing while driving an unmarked vehicle, Tuder drove to the location to set eyes on the suspect. Within seconds of arriving, Tuder was allegedly attacked by 19-year-old Marco Perez. The two jostled before Perez allegedly drew a weapon and shot Tuder multiple times. Perez was charged with capital murder and did not make bond. Tuder’s death means that Alabama has lost two law enforcement officers in the line of duty this year. Sgt. Wytasha Carter of the Birmingham Police Department was killed Jan. 13 while attempting to apprehend a suspect. Carter, shot in the head, was pronounced dead at the hospital. Another officer was injured but survived. Thousands of people lined the route from the church to the cemetery. Children from Grigg’s Middle School, which is just opposite the burial site, held banners and waved the U.S. flag as the procession went by. “This is the same spot we stood at last year,” Said Emily Bryson, who stood with her husband and two children. “We will always support the police no matter what. Everyday they go out for us, so least we can do is be here for them” Patriot Guard Riders, a group of mostly veterans on motorcycles, held large U.S. flags at the entrance to cemetery. “We do this a lot, for veterans, for law enforcement officers,” said Lloyd Pursley, the District Ride Captain. “We’re hear to pay our respects for him today. Sean Tuder had been in the police force for a while, well known in the community. It’s our honor to be here and to be here for him and his family and the law enforcement officers.” Pursley said that his riders had come from Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. For several minutes after the bugler finished playing complete silence befell the burial party, with the only sound being the faint noise of TV trucks that had come to cover the event. Speaking at the funeral ceremony inside the church earlier that morning, the City of Mobile Director of Public Safety gave a rousing, emotional and memorable tribute to law enforcement. “We will always remain dedicated to our oath of office and the law enforcement code of ethics,” said Barber, who was formerly the Police Chief in Mobile. “And we will continue to fight, my brothers and sisters, we will continue to fight because we must, for the hope that one day, just one day, we will never have to gather like this again."<doc-sep>The funeral service for fallen Mobile Police Officer Sean Tuder, who was shot and killed in the line of duty, will be held Jan. 25 at Dauphin Way Baptist Church located at 3661 Dauphin Street, Mobile. Friday’s public visitation begins at 10 a.m. The funeral procession will commence at 11 a.m. Officer Tuder will then be laid to rest at Mobile Memorial Gardens Cemetery located at 6100 Three Notch Road. The funeral procession will immediately follow the service. From Dauphin Way Baptist Church the procession will travel to Dauphin Street west then on to McGregor Avenue south before arriving at Azalea Road and continuing south to Government Boulevard, turning west onto Government Boulevard and finally arriving at Mobile Memorial Gardens on Three Notch Road. An earlier public visitation will take place Thursday from 5-8 p.m. at Dauphin Way Baptist.<doc-sep>The funeral of fallen Mobile Police Department officer Sean Tuder will take place Friday. Tuder’s widow Krissy posted the arrangements in a Facebook post. Thursday - public visitation from 5-8 p.m. at Dauphin Way Baptist, 3661 Dauphin St., Mobile. Friday - public visitation from 10-11 a.m. followed by funeral event starting at 11 a.m. Also at Dauphin Way Baptist, 3661 Dauphin St., Mobile. A graveside burial will take place at Mobile Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 6100 Three Notch-Kroner Road, Mobile. Reception to follow.<doc-sep>Tributes pour in for Mobile PD Officer Sean Tuder – ‘It was in him from the moment he was put on this Earth’ Mobile Police Department Officer Sean Tuder was laid to rest Friday, as tributes from around Alabama continue to pour in for the young officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty on Sunday. Tuder was also an Alabama National Guardsman, and Governor Kay Ivey earlier this week ordered all flags in the state lowered to half-staff. Perhaps the most moving tribute came from Tuder’s wife, Krissy. In an emotional Facebook post that has gone viral, she describes the “nightmare” she is going through, her husband’s dedication to protecting and serving the people of Alabama and why Tuder’s fellow law enforcement officers need the public’s support. “Let’s take our hero home and show the nation what it means to be a true patriot and citizen,” she wrote. Krissy Tuder’s post as follows: The nightmare that has unfolded in the past few days has been nothing short of surreal. The Mobile Police Department and the 173rd National Guard Infantry Unit have been constant and courageous. They quickly became family when I needed it most. The community, the fundraising, the food all of the generosity is beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. If my home wasn’t busy right now I do not think I would be standing upright. You are a welcome and thanked distraction. The next 48 hours will be heavy…I will kiss my husbands forehead for the last time. I will shake hands of people I barely know with a smile on my face because I know that’s what Sean would expect me to do. When they call him a hero I will know they aren’t just saying it…because he is. He never did anything in his life without giving his all. Unfortunately, in this circumstance he had nothing left to give. I know Sean was a smart cop and a fighter and I know without a shadow of a doubt he would have wanted to go out this way. Helping his fellow his brothers. I find comfort in that. People don’t do these jobs for the name or the praise…there is too much bad that goes with it. It was in him from the moment he was put on this Earth and nothing could have ever changed that. When officers were coming in my door over and over again I was asking “Why? Why? Why do you want to do this thankless job? Why do you want to see your wife end up like me?” With tears in their eyes all the answers were the same, “I don’t know.” There is a thousand reasons and no reasons all wrapped in one. It’s a special breed. It’s a courage ordinary people like myself can’t understand. As you line the streets and the grave to honor my husband, remember, they deserve this. They deserve to have people stand up for them and love them every day….not just when there body is lying for show. They need us as much as we need them. They see 10% of the public, 90% of the time and it is our job as citizens to rise up and show them the kindness left in the world. Thank you to his fellow officers, the city, the soldiers. Your hugs mean everything to me and I will need lots of them in the next coming months. Let’s take our hero home and show the nation what it means to be a true patriot and citizen. Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson also posted an especially moving message on social media, sharing the note that Tuder wrote to him in the police academy explaining why he wanted to be an officer. While every officer is going through the Mobile Police Academy, I ask them one simple question, “why do you want to be a Mobile police officer?” This was Officer Sean Tuder’s response to that question. pic.twitter.com/ISz5qBavb1 — Sandy Stimpson (@MayorStimpson) January 25, 2019 As Officer Tuder is laid to rest today, Rebecca and I join so many others in praying for his family, the @MobileALPolice, and law enforcement everywhere. May Officer Tuder now rest in the loving arms of God. pic.twitter.com/qpZWaIc2RS — Bradley Byrne (@BradleyByrne) January 25, 2019 RELATED: Steve Marshall: The high price of protecting the public Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn<doc-sep>
As images of fallen Mobile police officer Sean Tuder appeared on the large projector screens attached to the church walls above his open casket, many will have seen a side of the man not portrayed in the thousands of words that have been written and spoken about him since he was killed in the line of duty Sunday afternoon. Pictures of him as a playful young boy, a fun-loving teenager, and then as a man of service, both in the National Guard and as a police officer, offered a glimpse of a life well-lived at a public visitation at the Dauphin Way Baptist Church Thursday night. But also shown was a man who was clearly a dear friend to many and a dedicated husband to his now widowed wife, Krissy. As Krissy hugged and shook the hands of the hundreds of people that had seemingly come from all across the south east to pay their respects, a black and white image of the two smiling on their wedding day appeared as a sad and enduring reminder of a happy couple whose life together was destroyed by one senseless act. “They look so happy,” said Theresa Bonetti-Clark, who had driven up from Gulf Shores. “I can’t believe the man in the pictures is the same man down there.” “It’s a very sad time for Mobile,” said Samuel Cameron, a Mobile local. “We don’t deserve these officers.” A long line snaked from the front of the church toward the great hall where Tuder’s body lay, the U.S. flag immaculately spread over the lower half of the casket. Public officials, police officers and serving military personnel in uniform, mixed in with the public. One young girl with a blue bow in her hair cried into a relatives arms after seeing the fallen officer close up. Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste walked the length of the line shaking the hands of officers, and speaking to members of the Mobile public that he has diligently become familiar with since being appointed chief in April 2017. He hugged one crying woman after she walked by Tuder’s body. Earlier in the day, members of the public left flowers and prayer cards on Tuder’s squad car, which was parked outside Mobile police headquarters on Government Street. A laborer, dressed in white and covered in paint, knelt at the side of Tuder’s vehicle and prayed. A child no older that four years old laid a single dandelion on the hood, while an older schoolboy walked around the car reading the heartfelt messages that had been left behind. One teary-eyed couple left a bunch of flowers each. For Chief Battiste and the many that came to Dauphin Way Baptist church on what was a chilly Thursday night, the visitation was also a difficult reminder of officer Justin Billa’s death less than a year ago. Billa was shot by a man who only an hour before on the evening of Feb. 20, 2018 had murdered his ex-wife then fled the scene. Billa was sent to the man’s location to set up a police cordon. The man opened fire on Billa before taking his own life. Billa is survived by his wife and son. Tuder’s wife took to Facebook earlier in the day to thank the public, the Mobile Police Department, and members of the Alabama National Guard. “I know Sean was a smart cop and a fighter and I know without a shadow of a doubt he would have wanted to go out this way,” she wrote. “I will kiss my husbands forehead for the last time. I will shake hands of people I barely know with a smile on my face because I know that’s what Sean would expect me to do. When they call him a hero I will know they aren’t just saying it.”