Funeral procession set for officer shot during traffic stop

RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — The funeral procession Monday for an eastern Indiana police officer who died after being shot in the head during a traffic stop will follow U.S. 40 to Indianapolis, her department said.

The funeral for Officer Seara Burton, 28, will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Richmond High School. Following the funeral, the procession will carry her body to Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, where she will be interred in a section dedicated to public safety heroes.

The procession will go from the high school on local streets to pause in front of the Richmond Police Department for Burton’s final call, then continue under a Garrison Flag in Richmond before reaching U.S. 40 for the approximately 65-mile (105-kilometer) journey west to Indianapolis.

A public viewing will be held from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Richmond Municipal Building.

The four-year veteran of the department in Richmond was critically wounded in the Aug. 10 shooting. She was moved to hospice care, two days after she was removed from life support on Sept. 1 at a hospital in Dayton, Ohio.

Prosecutors have charged Phillip Matthew Lee, 47, with three counts of attempted murder, three drug possession counts for methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin and possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. He has pleaded not guilty.

Authorities have said officers stopped Lee and called Burton to assist with her police dog. The dog indicated the possible presence of narcotics. Court documents say that while officers were speaking with the rider, he pulled out a gun and opened fire toward the officers, shooting Burton. Other officers returned fire and he ran away. Lee was apprehended following a brief foot chase.

No other officers were shot.

Lee was treated for gunshot wounds, police said.

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