UAE police attend funeral of police officer

A delegation from the Ministry of Interior has taken part in the funeral of police officer Miosotis Familia, 48, of New York, who was recently shot and killed while on duty.

The delegation, headed by Colonel Khaled Al Shamsi, Head of Security Support Department at the ministry, conveyed the condolences of H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, the New York City Police Commissioner, and the family of the deceased.

More than 25,000 people participated in the funeral with the attendance of police delegations from many countries, including the Dominican Republic, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, who expressed their solidarity with the family of the deceased, and their counterparts in New York, in recognition of Officer Famila's courage.

Familia, a mother of three, was fatally shot last Wednesday as she sat in a marked vehicle in the Bronx area of the city.

James O'Neill, the New York Police Commissioner, said that Officer Familia was "assassinated in an unprovoked attack on cops" when a suspect shot through the window of her vehicle. Her killer, paranoid schizophrenic Anthony Bonds, 34, was shot by other police officers as he tried to flee.