By Canadian Press

Formal procession for Calgary police officer killed in the line of duty

Jan 5, 2021 | 12:53 PM

CALGARY — Civilians and first responders lined a major Calgary thoroughfare to watch as police vehicles escorted the remains of a fallen comrade across the city in a formal procession. 

Calgary police Sgt. Andrew Harnett was hit and dragged during a traffic stop on New Year’s Eve and died shortly after in hospital. 

A police live stream Tuesday showed officers placing Harnett’s casket, which was draped in a Canadian flag, in the back of a police funeral coach outside the medical examiner’s office. 

More than a dozen other police vehicles accompanied the coach to a funeral home on the edge of the city in a journey that lasted about an hour. 

Police, paramedics, firefighters and Mounties in Red Serge were among the uniformed first responders who saluted along the road as the procession passed.

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Two fire trucks on an overpass hung a big Canadian flag between them from extended ladders. 

Many civilians watched from sidewalks and pedestrian overpasses, and at different points along the route a blue heart and “RIP” were drawn in the snow. 

Harnett, 37, spent a dozen years with the Calgary Police Service and his family said he had been looking forward to becoming a father this summer.

A 17-year-old who police believe was driving the SUV on New Year’s Eve and an alleged passenger, 19-year-old Amir Abdulrahman, are charged with first-degree murder in Harnett’s death. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2020. 

The Canadian Press