Sep 17, 2007 4:45 pm US/Eastern
Families Console MDPD Officers In Light Of Tragedy
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CUTLER BAY (CBS4) ―
The South Florida Community is lending their support and words of encouragement to the men and women in uniform who have been affected by this week's tragedy.
Bright flowers, teddy bears, and hand-written letters were left at the police station in Cutler Ridger where slain Officer Jose Somohano worked, and even a third-grader wrote a note, thanking the officer for his service, and saying how sorry he is that he died.
On Sunday people stopped by the memorial to pay their respects to Somohano and inside the Cutler Ridge police station there is a bulletin board covered in cards from children that read "ou daddy is a policeman," "I hope you guys are ok," and some simply say "thank you."
Grace Boyd, a Miami-Dade police records clerk spent her weekend arranging flowers for an officer she knew very well.
"Very good guy, very personable and very quiet," said Boyd. "It's just terrible, it's a terrible tragedy."
Losing Somohano is a tragedy that has truck the community of Cutler Ridge.
CBS4's David Sutta spoke to Victor Guebrar a Cutler Ridge resident and told him that everybody in the community feels the loss of Somohano.
"I promised him [Somohano] that my son is going to be an officer also," said Guebrar.
"What happened the other day was horrible," said local residents Ida and Tom Ferguson. "We're supposed to be a civilized society United States of America, the greatest country right?" "And this is going on? No, no, it's not right, the man deserves respects and he didn't deserve to die."
On Friday an officer trained by Somohano showed up to the scene Friday, wearing a black bar on his badge to show his grief. However, he doesn't need to as tears welled up behind his sunglasses and rolled down his cheeks as he spoke to
CBS4's Natalia Zea.
"Great guy, always in a good mood, always positive," he said as he cried. "He's just going to be really missed, and it's really sad."
Somohano was described as an enthusiastic officer, who in four short years with the force was promoted from a street cop to a crime prevention unit.
"He's going to be missed," said Officer Layla Perez, as she cried. "It's something sad, you never expect to happen. You go to work every day and you never expect it. "
Somohano's murder ripped him away from his wife, his teenage son, and his eight year old daughter.
Debbie Geary knows all too well what his wife is feeling.
"Shock, numbness, not much of anything, just letting people tell her 'it's time to eat, it's time to sleep, let's rest,'" said Geary.
Debbie's husband, a Miami-Dade officer David Strakowski, was killed while on the job. The criminal shot him in the head.
"As my husband lay on the ground, he actually took my husband's gun and shot into my husband, under his vest four more times," said Geary.
Years later, Geary moved her life forward and remarried, but she says the pain never really goes away.
"Once the funeral's over with, when all the ceremonial stuff is over with, that's when you really start to crash, it gets harder," she said.
Geary helped form the South Florida Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors, a non-profit group for the families of fallen police officers. She plans to reach out to officer Somohano's widow in a few days.
Debbie says its cliché, but true, that time will help Officer Somohano's family heal. She also says for her, the yearly ceremony honoring her late husband makes her feel better, knowing he will never be forgotten. The same holds true for Officer Somohano.
The beloved husband and father of young children will be honored and remembered during a memorial service scheduled to begin Tuedsy at 11:00 a.m .
The memorial service will take place at the Pharmed Arena located at the Florida International University in 11200 southwest 8th street.
After the Memorial service Somohano's body will be laid to rest at the Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Cemetetery located at 11655 southwest 117 avenue.
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