Hundreds honor fallen Glendale Police Officer Bradley Jones

GLENDALE, AZ - A few hundred people made up of family, friends, officers, concerned citizens and strangers paid somber tribute to a fallen Glendale police officer Wednesday.

Kathy Ramirez, whose son is an officer in Phoenix, said she was there “to honor him and his family who gave up their son and father for the rest of us.”

You could hear a pin drop as the family of Officer Bradley Jones walked by the crowd to the center of Glendale's permanent memorial for fallen public safety personnel.

It’s the place where Jones, 26, recently had his patrol's photo taken and where his name will soon be etched so that he is never forgotten.

Several members of the Glendale Police Department spoke to the crowd as they held small candles.

Sgt. Joe Turitto was in the same unit. "I can honestly say that he was part of my family and I will miss him very much."

The family remained silent except for Brad's uncle, Tom Engstrom. Engstrom is a former officer who served longer that Bradley was alive.

He told the crowd that when Bradley was a boy he already knew he wanted to wear a badge. As a young man he loved children, worked hard, and kept his uniform spotless as a matter of pride.

"Most people would say Bradley was too nice to be an officer, but I think we need more Bradley Jones' in this world,” said Engstrom. “And if he was here tonight he would say about that fateful Friday night, ‘I was just doing my job.’"

Officer Jones is survived by his wife and two children and his mother and father.

He was shot at an apartment complex near 75th and Glendale avenues while responding to a call Friday night.