Maryland

Funeral Set for Officer Killed During Police Station Attack

Officer Jacai Colson killed in crossfire

Mourners will gather next week to say goodbye to a Prince George's County police officer who died after a gunman launched an attack on the police station. 

The funeral for Officer Jacai Colson will be held at 11 a.m. March 25 at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. A viewing will precede the service. 

A viewing is also scheduled for March 24 from 2 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Borgwardt Funeral Home in Beltsville, Maryland.

Colson's interment will be at noon March 28 at Lawn Croft Cemetery in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.

The viewing, memorial service and funeral were originally going to be private per the family's request. However, it was announced the viewing on Thursday and funeral on Friday will now be open to the public.

Police say Michael DeAndre Ford, 22, opened fire outside the station Sunday afternoon. Colson, 28, was "deliberately" shot by a fellow officer during crossfire, Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said. He had been wearing plainclothes and no body armor.

Ford's brothers, Elijah Ford, 18, and Malik Ford, 21, were with Michael at the time of the shooting. Court document say at least one of the brothers recorded the attack.

Police believe Michael intended to die at the hand of an officer. Two minutes before his brothers drove him to the District III station, he recorded his will on a cellphone, police said.

Colson, who would have turned 29 March 17, was killed as he tried to take down the gunman, Stawinski said

Colson, a four-year veteran of the police department, grew up in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, and is survived by his parents and younger brother, police said. He graduated from Chichester High School in 2005 and Randolph-Macon College in 2009.

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