A HERO
Police Officer Brian Huff was killed & four other officers were wounded in the line of duty during a shootout on the Detroit's east side.
He was inside a vacant duplex on Schoeherr near 8 Mile Road when he was shot multiple times.
He had served with the Detroit Police Department for 12 years and was assigned to the Eastern District.
He leaves behind his wife, Melissa, and 10-year-old son, Blair.
Brian was a graduate of Clintondale High School.
I was fortunate to have known Brian when we attended Clintondale High School together. He was a few years older but he was a wonderful & caring person that I never forgot.
I remember that he was always dressed very nice (in the 80's styles-lol), was very charming & respectful to the ladies, & he always had a smile on his face.
***********************
Police Veteran Brian Huff Was Devoted To His Family, Faith
Catherine Jun and George Hunter / The Detroit News
Clinton Township -- Brian Huff was remembered by friends, neighbors and colleagues as a big man with a big heart, who wore his love of God and family on his sleeve.
Huff, a married father of a 10-year-old son, was killed in the line of duty Monday while investigating an emergency call about shots fired in a duplex on Detroit's east side.
Officers wept when they learned the tragic news.
"If he was out there on the street, you knew he would back you up," said Detroit Police Officer Randy Randolph, one of many officers who offered condolences to Huff's family at St. John Hospital, where the 12-year-veteran officer died.
Randolph described Huff, who stood over 6 feet tall and weighed about 275 pounds, as a "gentle giant," who was "aggressive on the street" and well-liked by colleagues. Huff was married and had a 10-year-old son.
On his way out of the hospital, Randolph described the scene inside: Several officers like himself turning out in support, many of them "emotional," and showing "a lot of anger."
In addition to his Detroit police duties, Huff worked extra jobs in recent years, tailing cars for a private surveillance company and briefly as a school security guard.
"He loved being a policeman," said John G. Thomas, a family friend and owner of Worldwide Security & Investigations in Detroit, where Huff occasionally worked on his off-duty hours. "The world has lost a wonderful man we can't replace."
John Bennett, a longtime Detroit police officer, worked with Huff for about six months at their second jobs as security guards at Life Skills Center, an alternative charter school in Detroit.
Bennett said Huff cited Scripture with ease.
"He could quote verses from the Bible like he was a pastor, and it was clear that God and family were important to him," Bennett said.
Edward White, a retired police investigator in Detroit, partnered with Huff on several private surveillance jobs. He recalled Huff was skilled at mobile surveillance -- the art of following a car while still driving safely and not being noticed.
"He was very, very good at it," White, 65, said. "He was a delight to work with."
On Monday afternoon, the condominium where neighbors said Huff lived with his wife and 10-year-old son was quiet and nobody answered the door.
A few weeks back, father and son were seen strolling the streets of the complex, said neighbor Samuel Shepard, 22.
"He was a nice, cool guy," Shepard said.
Huff was friendly and outgoing, recalled Owen Linford, who is working as a contractor on a neighboring unit.
"He would always talk to everybody," Linford said.
The 51-year-old builder recalled on one occasion Huff returned home after chasing shootings all day, from one part of Detroit to the next.
"That's how he spent an entire day," said Owen Linford, 51. "He knew he was in a dangerous area."
***********************
Funeral Arrangements Set for Slain Detroit Police Officer Brian Huff
Updated: Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 1:53 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 1:15 PM EDT
By myFOXDetroit.com Staff
DETROIT - Visitation and funeral services have been scheduled for a Detroit police officer slain while investigating a report of shots fired in a vacant house on the city's east side.
Brian Huff's body can be viewed from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at United Memorial Funeral Home in Mount Clemems. Services are scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.
The 42-year-old Huff was one of five officers shot about 3:30 a.m. Monday. Two officers still were being treated at a hospital. The others have been released.
Police expect to file charges Tuesday with prosecutor's against a 25-year-old Detroit man. Jason Gibson was shot in the back by officers at the scene and was being treated at a hospital.
Huff was a 12-year Detroit police veteran. He is survived by a wife and 10-year-old son.
***********************
Officer's Family Prepares For Large Funeral
Published: Wednesday, May 05, 2010
By Mitch Hotts, Macomb Daily Staff Writer
As relatives of slain Detroit police officer Brian Huff on Tuesday planned his funeral, police and the Mount Clemens funeral home hosting the viewing also took steps to prepare for an influx of people wishing to pay their respects.
Huff, 42, of Clinton Township, was one of five officers shot early Monday on Detroit's east side. The other four will survive their injuries.
Visitation for the married father of a 10-year-old son will be Friday at United Memorial Funeral Home on Dickinson in Mount Clemens.
"We expect a lot of compassion and outpouring of grief from police officers from the area and across the nation in a respectful and dignified manner, which lends itself to the meaning of the courageous life that Brian lived," said Keith Wimbush, Huff's brother-in-law.
Officials from the Macomb County Sheriff's Office will meet today with representatives from the Detroit Police Department to discuss crowd control issues for Friday's visitation.
Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wickersham said a large turnout is expected.
"A lot of people will want to pay their respects to this fallen officer," Wickersham said. "We want to do our best to make sure people can get in to and out of the funeral as easily as possible."
United Memorial Funeral Home, located about a block away from the Mount Clemens Fire Department, has a relatively small parking lot. Overflow parking will be allowed in the city's municipal lot on First Street, said Dawana Traylor of the city manager's office.
Visitation will be held 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the funeral home. There will not be a procession from the funeral home to the Greater Grace Temple church in Detroit for the funeral service at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Harold Henry, owner of the funeral home, said United Memorial had services for Huff's family in the past so they were selected to handle the funeral arrangements.
"We treat all families with dignity and respect but we know this will be a highly publicized visitation," Henry said. "We want to be sure we do everything we possibly can for the family."
Huff — who law enforcement colleagues affectionately called a "gentle giant" because he stood more than 6 feet tall and weighed in at some 275 pounds — grew up in the Clinton Township area.
He met his future wife Melissa at Clintondale High School where the couple attended the senior prom, according to Melissa's sister, Sheila Wimbush of Novi.
"They knew each other for about 27 years and they had been married for 13 years," she said. "He referred to my sister and him being ‘crib buddies' because they had known each for so long."
After the couple married, they had a son, Blair, who is now 10 and attends school in Mount Clemens.
The family has been devastated. Brian and Melissa Huff had recently returned home from a trip to California where they were looking to relocate.
"Too often, we take for granted the jeopardy our public servants put themselves in on a daily basis," Keith Winbush said. "And then we have moments like what happened on Monday. We shouldn't have moments like that, but they do happen."
Both in-laws had no comment on the 25-year-old man suspected of firing several shots into Huff's face, killing him. "That process will run its course," Keith Winbush said.
The suspect, Jason Gibson, on Tuesday remained hospitalized with a gunshot to his backside. He is expected to be arraigned today on charges he opened fire on Huff and five other officers in the early Monday shootout.
Four of the officers suffered gunshot wounds that aren't considered life-threatening.
The officers were responding to a 911 call about shots fired inside a vacant duplex on Schoenherr near Eight Mile.
The other four officers shot and wounded are: Kasper Harrison, Steve Schram, John Dunlap and Joseph D'Angelo.
D'Angelo, Huff's partner, resides in New Baltimore. He suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was released from the hospital Monday.
Two of the officers remained hospitalized Tuesday in good condition.
Schram is recovering from a shot to the left foot, while Harrison, who was shot in the right arm and who police originally said had been released from the hospital, remained there.
Dunlap, who was grazed in the chin, was released Monday.
Gibson has a lengthy criminal record that includes fleeing-and-eluding convictions, as well as attempting to disarm a police officer. He had been out on bond on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He also is a parole absconder, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
***********************
Family, Friends, Cops Pay Respects To fallen Detroit Officer
By ZLATI MEYER, DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Posted: 7:14 p.m. May 6, 2010
Robert Petersen knew slain Detroit Police Officer Brian Huff only in passing, but he knew the pain his family and coworkers felt.
Petersen, a Sterling Heights cop, can rattle off the day his partner, Mark Sawyers, died in a second — June 4, 2002. Dressed in black and gray camo, he stopped today at the United Memorial Funeral Home in Mt. Clemens on his way back from Special Response Unit Training to pay his respects.
As many as 1,000 people, including friends, family and fellow officers, were expected to stop by tonight, funeral director Candy Collins-Adams said, with another 3,000 expected Friday.
Huff, 42, was killed Monday while responding to an emergency call about gunshots in a vacant home on the 20200 block of Schoenherr in Detroit. Four other officers were injured.
"I try to go to as many police funerals as possible; it could've just as well been me," Petersen said as he left the visitation. "Even people who have no ties to the police, still, it's like they lost part of their fatherhood and protection."
Inside, Huff's open casket displayed him dressed in the uniform he sacrificed his life for. His colleagues in the police department wore small black bands around their badges; those in his district had embroidered his badge number, 4600, on the elastic rings. Also on display was a trifold card signed by dozens of police offices. Outside, a large embroidery featuring the Policeman's Prayer was draped near the entrance to the mortuary.
"It's something people felt about Brian," said his sister-in-law Sheila Wimbush of Novi. "Everyone loved Brian; everyone knew Brian."
Huff is survived by his wife, Melissa, and a 10-year-old son, Blair.
"I feel left, because he's gone now," said Keith Walker, 11, of Clinton Township, a distant relative of Huff and a friend of Blair. "I never got the chance to say good-bye."
His father, Myron, had an even stronger tie to Huff. Better known as Detroit police Officer Myron Walker, he credits Huff with inspiring him to join the force.
"Brian, he's an inspirational figure," said Walker, 38. "He was a father to me."
Commander Steven Dolunt said several of the four injured officers were planning to come to the funeral home, too, some in wheelchairs. "Physically, they're OK, but still, they're distraught," he said.
Today, six students from Mann Elementary School in Detroit are to deliver to the Detroit Police Department Eastern District headquarters cards and letters they wrote as a tribute to Huff and his four wounded colleagues. Helping coordinate the project for the approximately 300 pre-kindergarteners through fifth-graders was Mann teacher Piper Herbert, whose husband is a Detroit police lieutenant at the Eastern District station.
About an hour and half after the visitation began, a swarm of bikers roared up to say good-bye to Huff. A handful of plainclothes officers, some with their badges pinned to their sports jacket-covered waistbands, also ducked into the modestly sized mortuary.
"God takes the good ones," said St. Clair Shores retiree Betty Lucas, who grew up with Huff's late mother and remembers when the slain officer was a baby. "He had a big bright smile. He'd do anything to help you."
***********************
Police Officer Brian Huff was killed & four other officers were wounded in the line of duty during a shootout on the Detroit's east side.
He was inside a vacant duplex on Schoeherr near 8 Mile Road when he was shot multiple times.
He had served with the Detroit Police Department for 12 years and was assigned to the Eastern District.
He leaves behind his wife, Melissa, and 10-year-old son, Blair.
Brian was a graduate of Clintondale High School.
I was fortunate to have known Brian when we attended Clintondale High School together. He was a few years older but he was a wonderful & caring person that I never forgot.
I remember that he was always dressed very nice (in the 80's styles-lol), was very charming & respectful to the ladies, & he always had a smile on his face.
***********************
Police Veteran Brian Huff Was Devoted To His Family, Faith
Catherine Jun and George Hunter / The Detroit News
Clinton Township -- Brian Huff was remembered by friends, neighbors and colleagues as a big man with a big heart, who wore his love of God and family on his sleeve.
Huff, a married father of a 10-year-old son, was killed in the line of duty Monday while investigating an emergency call about shots fired in a duplex on Detroit's east side.
Officers wept when they learned the tragic news.
"If he was out there on the street, you knew he would back you up," said Detroit Police Officer Randy Randolph, one of many officers who offered condolences to Huff's family at St. John Hospital, where the 12-year-veteran officer died.
Randolph described Huff, who stood over 6 feet tall and weighed about 275 pounds, as a "gentle giant," who was "aggressive on the street" and well-liked by colleagues. Huff was married and had a 10-year-old son.
On his way out of the hospital, Randolph described the scene inside: Several officers like himself turning out in support, many of them "emotional," and showing "a lot of anger."
In addition to his Detroit police duties, Huff worked extra jobs in recent years, tailing cars for a private surveillance company and briefly as a school security guard.
"He loved being a policeman," said John G. Thomas, a family friend and owner of Worldwide Security & Investigations in Detroit, where Huff occasionally worked on his off-duty hours. "The world has lost a wonderful man we can't replace."
John Bennett, a longtime Detroit police officer, worked with Huff for about six months at their second jobs as security guards at Life Skills Center, an alternative charter school in Detroit.
Bennett said Huff cited Scripture with ease.
"He could quote verses from the Bible like he was a pastor, and it was clear that God and family were important to him," Bennett said.
Edward White, a retired police investigator in Detroit, partnered with Huff on several private surveillance jobs. He recalled Huff was skilled at mobile surveillance -- the art of following a car while still driving safely and not being noticed.
"He was very, very good at it," White, 65, said. "He was a delight to work with."
On Monday afternoon, the condominium where neighbors said Huff lived with his wife and 10-year-old son was quiet and nobody answered the door.
A few weeks back, father and son were seen strolling the streets of the complex, said neighbor Samuel Shepard, 22.
"He was a nice, cool guy," Shepard said.
Huff was friendly and outgoing, recalled Owen Linford, who is working as a contractor on a neighboring unit.
"He would always talk to everybody," Linford said.
The 51-year-old builder recalled on one occasion Huff returned home after chasing shootings all day, from one part of Detroit to the next.
"That's how he spent an entire day," said Owen Linford, 51. "He knew he was in a dangerous area."
***********************
Funeral Arrangements Set for Slain Detroit Police Officer Brian Huff
Updated: Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 1:53 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 1:15 PM EDT
By myFOXDetroit.com Staff
DETROIT - Visitation and funeral services have been scheduled for a Detroit police officer slain while investigating a report of shots fired in a vacant house on the city's east side.
Brian Huff's body can be viewed from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at United Memorial Funeral Home in Mount Clemems. Services are scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.
The 42-year-old Huff was one of five officers shot about 3:30 a.m. Monday. Two officers still were being treated at a hospital. The others have been released.
Police expect to file charges Tuesday with prosecutor's against a 25-year-old Detroit man. Jason Gibson was shot in the back by officers at the scene and was being treated at a hospital.
Huff was a 12-year Detroit police veteran. He is survived by a wife and 10-year-old son.
***********************
Officer's Family Prepares For Large Funeral
Published: Wednesday, May 05, 2010
By Mitch Hotts, Macomb Daily Staff Writer
As relatives of slain Detroit police officer Brian Huff on Tuesday planned his funeral, police and the Mount Clemens funeral home hosting the viewing also took steps to prepare for an influx of people wishing to pay their respects.
Huff, 42, of Clinton Township, was one of five officers shot early Monday on Detroit's east side. The other four will survive their injuries.
Visitation for the married father of a 10-year-old son will be Friday at United Memorial Funeral Home on Dickinson in Mount Clemens.
"We expect a lot of compassion and outpouring of grief from police officers from the area and across the nation in a respectful and dignified manner, which lends itself to the meaning of the courageous life that Brian lived," said Keith Wimbush, Huff's brother-in-law.
Officials from the Macomb County Sheriff's Office will meet today with representatives from the Detroit Police Department to discuss crowd control issues for Friday's visitation.
Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wickersham said a large turnout is expected.
"A lot of people will want to pay their respects to this fallen officer," Wickersham said. "We want to do our best to make sure people can get in to and out of the funeral as easily as possible."
United Memorial Funeral Home, located about a block away from the Mount Clemens Fire Department, has a relatively small parking lot. Overflow parking will be allowed in the city's municipal lot on First Street, said Dawana Traylor of the city manager's office.
Visitation will be held 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the funeral home. There will not be a procession from the funeral home to the Greater Grace Temple church in Detroit for the funeral service at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Harold Henry, owner of the funeral home, said United Memorial had services for Huff's family in the past so they were selected to handle the funeral arrangements.
"We treat all families with dignity and respect but we know this will be a highly publicized visitation," Henry said. "We want to be sure we do everything we possibly can for the family."
Huff — who law enforcement colleagues affectionately called a "gentle giant" because he stood more than 6 feet tall and weighed in at some 275 pounds — grew up in the Clinton Township area.
He met his future wife Melissa at Clintondale High School where the couple attended the senior prom, according to Melissa's sister, Sheila Wimbush of Novi.
"They knew each other for about 27 years and they had been married for 13 years," she said. "He referred to my sister and him being ‘crib buddies' because they had known each for so long."
After the couple married, they had a son, Blair, who is now 10 and attends school in Mount Clemens.
The family has been devastated. Brian and Melissa Huff had recently returned home from a trip to California where they were looking to relocate.
"Too often, we take for granted the jeopardy our public servants put themselves in on a daily basis," Keith Winbush said. "And then we have moments like what happened on Monday. We shouldn't have moments like that, but they do happen."
Both in-laws had no comment on the 25-year-old man suspected of firing several shots into Huff's face, killing him. "That process will run its course," Keith Winbush said.
The suspect, Jason Gibson, on Tuesday remained hospitalized with a gunshot to his backside. He is expected to be arraigned today on charges he opened fire on Huff and five other officers in the early Monday shootout.
Four of the officers suffered gunshot wounds that aren't considered life-threatening.
The officers were responding to a 911 call about shots fired inside a vacant duplex on Schoenherr near Eight Mile.
The other four officers shot and wounded are: Kasper Harrison, Steve Schram, John Dunlap and Joseph D'Angelo.
D'Angelo, Huff's partner, resides in New Baltimore. He suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was released from the hospital Monday.
Two of the officers remained hospitalized Tuesday in good condition.
Schram is recovering from a shot to the left foot, while Harrison, who was shot in the right arm and who police originally said had been released from the hospital, remained there.
Dunlap, who was grazed in the chin, was released Monday.
Gibson has a lengthy criminal record that includes fleeing-and-eluding convictions, as well as attempting to disarm a police officer. He had been out on bond on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He also is a parole absconder, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
***********************
Family, Friends, Cops Pay Respects To fallen Detroit Officer
By ZLATI MEYER, DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Posted: 7:14 p.m. May 6, 2010
Robert Petersen knew slain Detroit Police Officer Brian Huff only in passing, but he knew the pain his family and coworkers felt.
Petersen, a Sterling Heights cop, can rattle off the day his partner, Mark Sawyers, died in a second — June 4, 2002. Dressed in black and gray camo, he stopped today at the United Memorial Funeral Home in Mt. Clemens on his way back from Special Response Unit Training to pay his respects.
As many as 1,000 people, including friends, family and fellow officers, were expected to stop by tonight, funeral director Candy Collins-Adams said, with another 3,000 expected Friday.
Huff, 42, was killed Monday while responding to an emergency call about gunshots in a vacant home on the 20200 block of Schoenherr in Detroit. Four other officers were injured.
"I try to go to as many police funerals as possible; it could've just as well been me," Petersen said as he left the visitation. "Even people who have no ties to the police, still, it's like they lost part of their fatherhood and protection."
Inside, Huff's open casket displayed him dressed in the uniform he sacrificed his life for. His colleagues in the police department wore small black bands around their badges; those in his district had embroidered his badge number, 4600, on the elastic rings. Also on display was a trifold card signed by dozens of police offices. Outside, a large embroidery featuring the Policeman's Prayer was draped near the entrance to the mortuary.
"It's something people felt about Brian," said his sister-in-law Sheila Wimbush of Novi. "Everyone loved Brian; everyone knew Brian."
Huff is survived by his wife, Melissa, and a 10-year-old son, Blair.
"I feel left, because he's gone now," said Keith Walker, 11, of Clinton Township, a distant relative of Huff and a friend of Blair. "I never got the chance to say good-bye."
His father, Myron, had an even stronger tie to Huff. Better known as Detroit police Officer Myron Walker, he credits Huff with inspiring him to join the force.
"Brian, he's an inspirational figure," said Walker, 38. "He was a father to me."
Commander Steven Dolunt said several of the four injured officers were planning to come to the funeral home, too, some in wheelchairs. "Physically, they're OK, but still, they're distraught," he said.
Today, six students from Mann Elementary School in Detroit are to deliver to the Detroit Police Department Eastern District headquarters cards and letters they wrote as a tribute to Huff and his four wounded colleagues. Helping coordinate the project for the approximately 300 pre-kindergarteners through fifth-graders was Mann teacher Piper Herbert, whose husband is a Detroit police lieutenant at the Eastern District station.
About an hour and half after the visitation began, a swarm of bikers roared up to say good-bye to Huff. A handful of plainclothes officers, some with their badges pinned to their sports jacket-covered waistbands, also ducked into the modestly sized mortuary.
"God takes the good ones," said St. Clair Shores retiree Betty Lucas, who grew up with Huff's late mother and remembers when the slain officer was a baby. "He had a big bright smile. He'd do anything to help you."
***********************
A HERO
Police Officer Brian Huff was killed & four other officers were wounded in the line of duty during a shootout on the Detroit's east side.
He was inside a vacant duplex on Schoeherr near 8 Mile Road when he was shot multiple times.
He had served with the Detroit Police Department for 12 years and was assigned to the Eastern District.
He leaves behind his wife, Melissa, and 10-year-old son, Blair.
Brian was a graduate of Clintondale High School.
I was fortunate to have known Brian when we attended Clintondale High School together. He was a few years older but he was a wonderful & caring person that I never forgot.
I remember that he was always dressed very nice (in the 80's styles-lol), was very charming & respectful to the ladies, & he always had a smile on his face.
***********************
Police Veteran Brian Huff Was Devoted To His Family, Faith
Catherine Jun and George Hunter / The Detroit News
Clinton Township -- Brian Huff was remembered by friends, neighbors and colleagues as a big man with a big heart, who wore his love of God and family on his sleeve.
Huff, a married father of a 10-year-old son, was killed in the line of duty Monday while investigating an emergency call about shots fired in a duplex on Detroit's east side.
Officers wept when they learned the tragic news.
"If he was out there on the street, you knew he would back you up," said Detroit Police Officer Randy Randolph, one of many officers who offered condolences to Huff's family at St. John Hospital, where the 12-year-veteran officer died.
Randolph described Huff, who stood over 6 feet tall and weighed about 275 pounds, as a "gentle giant," who was "aggressive on the street" and well-liked by colleagues. Huff was married and had a 10-year-old son.
On his way out of the hospital, Randolph described the scene inside: Several officers like himself turning out in support, many of them "emotional," and showing "a lot of anger."
In addition to his Detroit police duties, Huff worked extra jobs in recent years, tailing cars for a private surveillance company and briefly as a school security guard.
"He loved being a policeman," said John G. Thomas, a family friend and owner of Worldwide Security & Investigations in Detroit, where Huff occasionally worked on his off-duty hours. "The world has lost a wonderful man we can't replace."
John Bennett, a longtime Detroit police officer, worked with Huff for about six months at their second jobs as security guards at Life Skills Center, an alternative charter school in Detroit.
Bennett said Huff cited Scripture with ease.
"He could quote verses from the Bible like he was a pastor, and it was clear that God and family were important to him," Bennett said.
Edward White, a retired police investigator in Detroit, partnered with Huff on several private surveillance jobs. He recalled Huff was skilled at mobile surveillance -- the art of following a car while still driving safely and not being noticed.
"He was very, very good at it," White, 65, said. "He was a delight to work with."
On Monday afternoon, the condominium where neighbors said Huff lived with his wife and 10-year-old son was quiet and nobody answered the door.
A few weeks back, father and son were seen strolling the streets of the complex, said neighbor Samuel Shepard, 22.
"He was a nice, cool guy," Shepard said.
Huff was friendly and outgoing, recalled Owen Linford, who is working as a contractor on a neighboring unit.
"He would always talk to everybody," Linford said.
The 51-year-old builder recalled on one occasion Huff returned home after chasing shootings all day, from one part of Detroit to the next.
"That's how he spent an entire day," said Owen Linford, 51. "He knew he was in a dangerous area."
***********************
Funeral Arrangements Set for Slain Detroit Police Officer Brian Huff
Updated: Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 1:53 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 1:15 PM EDT
By myFOXDetroit.com Staff
DETROIT - Visitation and funeral services have been scheduled for a Detroit police officer slain while investigating a report of shots fired in a vacant house on the city's east side.
Brian Huff's body can be viewed from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at United Memorial Funeral Home in Mount Clemems. Services are scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.
The 42-year-old Huff was one of five officers shot about 3:30 a.m. Monday. Two officers still were being treated at a hospital. The others have been released.
Police expect to file charges Tuesday with prosecutor's against a 25-year-old Detroit man. Jason Gibson was shot in the back by officers at the scene and was being treated at a hospital.
Huff was a 12-year Detroit police veteran. He is survived by a wife and 10-year-old son.
***********************
Officer's Family Prepares For Large Funeral
Published: Wednesday, May 05, 2010
By Mitch Hotts, Macomb Daily Staff Writer
As relatives of slain Detroit police officer Brian Huff on Tuesday planned his funeral, police and the Mount Clemens funeral home hosting the viewing also took steps to prepare for an influx of people wishing to pay their respects.
Huff, 42, of Clinton Township, was one of five officers shot early Monday on Detroit's east side. The other four will survive their injuries.
Visitation for the married father of a 10-year-old son will be Friday at United Memorial Funeral Home on Dickinson in Mount Clemens.
"We expect a lot of compassion and outpouring of grief from police officers from the area and across the nation in a respectful and dignified manner, which lends itself to the meaning of the courageous life that Brian lived," said Keith Wimbush, Huff's brother-in-law.
Officials from the Macomb County Sheriff's Office will meet today with representatives from the Detroit Police Department to discuss crowd control issues for Friday's visitation.
Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wickersham said a large turnout is expected.
"A lot of people will want to pay their respects to this fallen officer," Wickersham said. "We want to do our best to make sure people can get in to and out of the funeral as easily as possible."
United Memorial Funeral Home, located about a block away from the Mount Clemens Fire Department, has a relatively small parking lot. Overflow parking will be allowed in the city's municipal lot on First Street, said Dawana Traylor of the city manager's office.
Visitation will be held 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the funeral home. There will not be a procession from the funeral home to the Greater Grace Temple church in Detroit for the funeral service at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Harold Henry, owner of the funeral home, said United Memorial had services for Huff's family in the past so they were selected to handle the funeral arrangements.
"We treat all families with dignity and respect but we know this will be a highly publicized visitation," Henry said. "We want to be sure we do everything we possibly can for the family."
Huff — who law enforcement colleagues affectionately called a "gentle giant" because he stood more than 6 feet tall and weighed in at some 275 pounds — grew up in the Clinton Township area.
He met his future wife Melissa at Clintondale High School where the couple attended the senior prom, according to Melissa's sister, Sheila Wimbush of Novi.
"They knew each other for about 27 years and they had been married for 13 years," she said. "He referred to my sister and him being ‘crib buddies' because they had known each for so long."
After the couple married, they had a son, Blair, who is now 10 and attends school in Mount Clemens.
The family has been devastated. Brian and Melissa Huff had recently returned home from a trip to California where they were looking to relocate.
"Too often, we take for granted the jeopardy our public servants put themselves in on a daily basis," Keith Winbush said. "And then we have moments like what happened on Monday. We shouldn't have moments like that, but they do happen."
Both in-laws had no comment on the 25-year-old man suspected of firing several shots into Huff's face, killing him. "That process will run its course," Keith Winbush said.
The suspect, Jason Gibson, on Tuesday remained hospitalized with a gunshot to his backside. He is expected to be arraigned today on charges he opened fire on Huff and five other officers in the early Monday shootout.
Four of the officers suffered gunshot wounds that aren't considered life-threatening.
The officers were responding to a 911 call about shots fired inside a vacant duplex on Schoenherr near Eight Mile.
The other four officers shot and wounded are: Kasper Harrison, Steve Schram, John Dunlap and Joseph D'Angelo.
D'Angelo, Huff's partner, resides in New Baltimore. He suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was released from the hospital Monday.
Two of the officers remained hospitalized Tuesday in good condition.
Schram is recovering from a shot to the left foot, while Harrison, who was shot in the right arm and who police originally said had been released from the hospital, remained there.
Dunlap, who was grazed in the chin, was released Monday.
Gibson has a lengthy criminal record that includes fleeing-and-eluding convictions, as well as attempting to disarm a police officer. He had been out on bond on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He also is a parole absconder, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
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Family, Friends, Cops Pay Respects To fallen Detroit Officer
By ZLATI MEYER, DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Posted: 7:14 p.m. May 6, 2010
Robert Petersen knew slain Detroit Police Officer Brian Huff only in passing, but he knew the pain his family and coworkers felt.
Petersen, a Sterling Heights cop, can rattle off the day his partner, Mark Sawyers, died in a second — June 4, 2002. Dressed in black and gray camo, he stopped today at the United Memorial Funeral Home in Mt. Clemens on his way back from Special Response Unit Training to pay his respects.
As many as 1,000 people, including friends, family and fellow officers, were expected to stop by tonight, funeral director Candy Collins-Adams said, with another 3,000 expected Friday.
Huff, 42, was killed Monday while responding to an emergency call about gunshots in a vacant home on the 20200 block of Schoenherr in Detroit. Four other officers were injured.
"I try to go to as many police funerals as possible; it could've just as well been me," Petersen said as he left the visitation. "Even people who have no ties to the police, still, it's like they lost part of their fatherhood and protection."
Inside, Huff's open casket displayed him dressed in the uniform he sacrificed his life for. His colleagues in the police department wore small black bands around their badges; those in his district had embroidered his badge number, 4600, on the elastic rings. Also on display was a trifold card signed by dozens of police offices. Outside, a large embroidery featuring the Policeman's Prayer was draped near the entrance to the mortuary.
"It's something people felt about Brian," said his sister-in-law Sheila Wimbush of Novi. "Everyone loved Brian; everyone knew Brian."
Huff is survived by his wife, Melissa, and a 10-year-old son, Blair.
"I feel left, because he's gone now," said Keith Walker, 11, of Clinton Township, a distant relative of Huff and a friend of Blair. "I never got the chance to say good-bye."
His father, Myron, had an even stronger tie to Huff. Better known as Detroit police Officer Myron Walker, he credits Huff with inspiring him to join the force.
"Brian, he's an inspirational figure," said Walker, 38. "He was a father to me."
Commander Steven Dolunt said several of the four injured officers were planning to come to the funeral home, too, some in wheelchairs. "Physically, they're OK, but still, they're distraught," he said.
Today, six students from Mann Elementary School in Detroit are to deliver to the Detroit Police Department Eastern District headquarters cards and letters they wrote as a tribute to Huff and his four wounded colleagues. Helping coordinate the project for the approximately 300 pre-kindergarteners through fifth-graders was Mann teacher Piper Herbert, whose husband is a Detroit police lieutenant at the Eastern District station.
About an hour and half after the visitation began, a swarm of bikers roared up to say good-bye to Huff. A handful of plainclothes officers, some with their badges pinned to their sports jacket-covered waistbands, also ducked into the modestly sized mortuary.
"God takes the good ones," said St. Clair Shores retiree Betty Lucas, who grew up with Huff's late mother and remembers when the slain officer was a baby. "He had a big bright smile. He'd do anything to help you."
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Police Officer Brian Huff was killed & four other officers were wounded in the line of duty during a shootout on the Detroit's east side.
He was inside a vacant duplex on Schoeherr near 8 Mile Road when he was shot multiple times.
He had served with the Detroit Police Department for 12 years and was assigned to the Eastern District.
He leaves behind his wife, Melissa, and 10-year-old son, Blair.
Brian was a graduate of Clintondale High School.
I was fortunate to have known Brian when we attended Clintondale High School together. He was a few years older but he was a wonderful & caring person that I never forgot.
I remember that he was always dressed very nice (in the 80's styles-lol), was very charming & respectful to the ladies, & he always had a smile on his face.
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Police Veteran Brian Huff Was Devoted To His Family, Faith
Catherine Jun and George Hunter / The Detroit News
Clinton Township -- Brian Huff was remembered by friends, neighbors and colleagues as a big man with a big heart, who wore his love of God and family on his sleeve.
Huff, a married father of a 10-year-old son, was killed in the line of duty Monday while investigating an emergency call about shots fired in a duplex on Detroit's east side.
Officers wept when they learned the tragic news.
"If he was out there on the street, you knew he would back you up," said Detroit Police Officer Randy Randolph, one of many officers who offered condolences to Huff's family at St. John Hospital, where the 12-year-veteran officer died.
Randolph described Huff, who stood over 6 feet tall and weighed about 275 pounds, as a "gentle giant," who was "aggressive on the street" and well-liked by colleagues. Huff was married and had a 10-year-old son.
On his way out of the hospital, Randolph described the scene inside: Several officers like himself turning out in support, many of them "emotional," and showing "a lot of anger."
In addition to his Detroit police duties, Huff worked extra jobs in recent years, tailing cars for a private surveillance company and briefly as a school security guard.
"He loved being a policeman," said John G. Thomas, a family friend and owner of Worldwide Security & Investigations in Detroit, where Huff occasionally worked on his off-duty hours. "The world has lost a wonderful man we can't replace."
John Bennett, a longtime Detroit police officer, worked with Huff for about six months at their second jobs as security guards at Life Skills Center, an alternative charter school in Detroit.
Bennett said Huff cited Scripture with ease.
"He could quote verses from the Bible like he was a pastor, and it was clear that God and family were important to him," Bennett said.
Edward White, a retired police investigator in Detroit, partnered with Huff on several private surveillance jobs. He recalled Huff was skilled at mobile surveillance -- the art of following a car while still driving safely and not being noticed.
"He was very, very good at it," White, 65, said. "He was a delight to work with."
On Monday afternoon, the condominium where neighbors said Huff lived with his wife and 10-year-old son was quiet and nobody answered the door.
A few weeks back, father and son were seen strolling the streets of the complex, said neighbor Samuel Shepard, 22.
"He was a nice, cool guy," Shepard said.
Huff was friendly and outgoing, recalled Owen Linford, who is working as a contractor on a neighboring unit.
"He would always talk to everybody," Linford said.
The 51-year-old builder recalled on one occasion Huff returned home after chasing shootings all day, from one part of Detroit to the next.
"That's how he spent an entire day," said Owen Linford, 51. "He knew he was in a dangerous area."
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Funeral Arrangements Set for Slain Detroit Police Officer Brian Huff
Updated: Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 1:53 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 04 May 2010, 1:15 PM EDT
By myFOXDetroit.com Staff
DETROIT - Visitation and funeral services have been scheduled for a Detroit police officer slain while investigating a report of shots fired in a vacant house on the city's east side.
Brian Huff's body can be viewed from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday at United Memorial Funeral Home in Mount Clemems. Services are scheduled at 11 a.m. Saturday at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.
The 42-year-old Huff was one of five officers shot about 3:30 a.m. Monday. Two officers still were being treated at a hospital. The others have been released.
Police expect to file charges Tuesday with prosecutor's against a 25-year-old Detroit man. Jason Gibson was shot in the back by officers at the scene and was being treated at a hospital.
Huff was a 12-year Detroit police veteran. He is survived by a wife and 10-year-old son.
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Officer's Family Prepares For Large Funeral
Published: Wednesday, May 05, 2010
By Mitch Hotts, Macomb Daily Staff Writer
As relatives of slain Detroit police officer Brian Huff on Tuesday planned his funeral, police and the Mount Clemens funeral home hosting the viewing also took steps to prepare for an influx of people wishing to pay their respects.
Huff, 42, of Clinton Township, was one of five officers shot early Monday on Detroit's east side. The other four will survive their injuries.
Visitation for the married father of a 10-year-old son will be Friday at United Memorial Funeral Home on Dickinson in Mount Clemens.
"We expect a lot of compassion and outpouring of grief from police officers from the area and across the nation in a respectful and dignified manner, which lends itself to the meaning of the courageous life that Brian lived," said Keith Wimbush, Huff's brother-in-law.
Officials from the Macomb County Sheriff's Office will meet today with representatives from the Detroit Police Department to discuss crowd control issues for Friday's visitation.
Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wickersham said a large turnout is expected.
"A lot of people will want to pay their respects to this fallen officer," Wickersham said. "We want to do our best to make sure people can get in to and out of the funeral as easily as possible."
United Memorial Funeral Home, located about a block away from the Mount Clemens Fire Department, has a relatively small parking lot. Overflow parking will be allowed in the city's municipal lot on First Street, said Dawana Traylor of the city manager's office.
Visitation will be held 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the funeral home. There will not be a procession from the funeral home to the Greater Grace Temple church in Detroit for the funeral service at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Harold Henry, owner of the funeral home, said United Memorial had services for Huff's family in the past so they were selected to handle the funeral arrangements.
"We treat all families with dignity and respect but we know this will be a highly publicized visitation," Henry said. "We want to be sure we do everything we possibly can for the family."
Huff — who law enforcement colleagues affectionately called a "gentle giant" because he stood more than 6 feet tall and weighed in at some 275 pounds — grew up in the Clinton Township area.
He met his future wife Melissa at Clintondale High School where the couple attended the senior prom, according to Melissa's sister, Sheila Wimbush of Novi.
"They knew each other for about 27 years and they had been married for 13 years," she said. "He referred to my sister and him being ‘crib buddies' because they had known each for so long."
After the couple married, they had a son, Blair, who is now 10 and attends school in Mount Clemens.
The family has been devastated. Brian and Melissa Huff had recently returned home from a trip to California where they were looking to relocate.
"Too often, we take for granted the jeopardy our public servants put themselves in on a daily basis," Keith Winbush said. "And then we have moments like what happened on Monday. We shouldn't have moments like that, but they do happen."
Both in-laws had no comment on the 25-year-old man suspected of firing several shots into Huff's face, killing him. "That process will run its course," Keith Winbush said.
The suspect, Jason Gibson, on Tuesday remained hospitalized with a gunshot to his backside. He is expected to be arraigned today on charges he opened fire on Huff and five other officers in the early Monday shootout.
Four of the officers suffered gunshot wounds that aren't considered life-threatening.
The officers were responding to a 911 call about shots fired inside a vacant duplex on Schoenherr near Eight Mile.
The other four officers shot and wounded are: Kasper Harrison, Steve Schram, John Dunlap and Joseph D'Angelo.
D'Angelo, Huff's partner, resides in New Baltimore. He suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was released from the hospital Monday.
Two of the officers remained hospitalized Tuesday in good condition.
Schram is recovering from a shot to the left foot, while Harrison, who was shot in the right arm and who police originally said had been released from the hospital, remained there.
Dunlap, who was grazed in the chin, was released Monday.
Gibson has a lengthy criminal record that includes fleeing-and-eluding convictions, as well as attempting to disarm a police officer. He had been out on bond on a charge of carrying a concealed weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He also is a parole absconder, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
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Family, Friends, Cops Pay Respects To fallen Detroit Officer
By ZLATI MEYER, DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Posted: 7:14 p.m. May 6, 2010
Robert Petersen knew slain Detroit Police Officer Brian Huff only in passing, but he knew the pain his family and coworkers felt.
Petersen, a Sterling Heights cop, can rattle off the day his partner, Mark Sawyers, died in a second — June 4, 2002. Dressed in black and gray camo, he stopped today at the United Memorial Funeral Home in Mt. Clemens on his way back from Special Response Unit Training to pay his respects.
As many as 1,000 people, including friends, family and fellow officers, were expected to stop by tonight, funeral director Candy Collins-Adams said, with another 3,000 expected Friday.
Huff, 42, was killed Monday while responding to an emergency call about gunshots in a vacant home on the 20200 block of Schoenherr in Detroit. Four other officers were injured.
"I try to go to as many police funerals as possible; it could've just as well been me," Petersen said as he left the visitation. "Even people who have no ties to the police, still, it's like they lost part of their fatherhood and protection."
Inside, Huff's open casket displayed him dressed in the uniform he sacrificed his life for. His colleagues in the police department wore small black bands around their badges; those in his district had embroidered his badge number, 4600, on the elastic rings. Also on display was a trifold card signed by dozens of police offices. Outside, a large embroidery featuring the Policeman's Prayer was draped near the entrance to the mortuary.
"It's something people felt about Brian," said his sister-in-law Sheila Wimbush of Novi. "Everyone loved Brian; everyone knew Brian."
Huff is survived by his wife, Melissa, and a 10-year-old son, Blair.
"I feel left, because he's gone now," said Keith Walker, 11, of Clinton Township, a distant relative of Huff and a friend of Blair. "I never got the chance to say good-bye."
His father, Myron, had an even stronger tie to Huff. Better known as Detroit police Officer Myron Walker, he credits Huff with inspiring him to join the force.
"Brian, he's an inspirational figure," said Walker, 38. "He was a father to me."
Commander Steven Dolunt said several of the four injured officers were planning to come to the funeral home, too, some in wheelchairs. "Physically, they're OK, but still, they're distraught," he said.
Today, six students from Mann Elementary School in Detroit are to deliver to the Detroit Police Department Eastern District headquarters cards and letters they wrote as a tribute to Huff and his four wounded colleagues. Helping coordinate the project for the approximately 300 pre-kindergarteners through fifth-graders was Mann teacher Piper Herbert, whose husband is a Detroit police lieutenant at the Eastern District station.
About an hour and half after the visitation began, a swarm of bikers roared up to say good-bye to Huff. A handful of plainclothes officers, some with their badges pinned to their sports jacket-covered waistbands, also ducked into the modestly sized mortuary.
"God takes the good ones," said St. Clair Shores retiree Betty Lucas, who grew up with Huff's late mother and remembers when the slain officer was a baby. "He had a big bright smile. He'd do anything to help you."
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