2nd Viewing Held For Fallen Canonsburg Police Officer
CANONSBURG (KDKA) - A second viewing was held Tuesday evening to honor the Canonsburg police officer who was killed in the line of duty.
Officer Scott Bashioum was killed in an ambush-style attack last week.
Hundreds of people attended Monday's viewing at the Beinhauer Funeral Home in Peters Township.
On Tuesday night, a large contingent from the Fraternal Order of Police lined up outside the funeral home to take part in a solemn FOP tradition in which officers salute the casket and give their condolences to the family.
Meanwhile, in Canonsburg, a group of officers from the Brotherhood for the Fallen visited the growing memorial in front of the municipal building.
Local officers welcomed law enforcement from Fort Worth, Texas; Aurora, Colorado; New York City, and other departments across the country.
The organization participates in funeral services for fallen officers and provides financial support to their families.
Meanwhile, in the face of this adversity, the Canonsburg community continues to show much strength.
Thousands of people are expected to attend Officer Scott Bashioum's funeral on Wednesday. And people from all over are offering their support for an officer who made the ultimate sacrifice.
"We've received flowers from professional ball teams, we've received support from other professional teams," says Chief Alexander Coghill, of the Canonsburg Police Department. "So, it has extended well beyond the law enforcement community. It has extended into almost every community in the country."
The memorial shrine at the Canonsburg Municipal Building continues to grow. A blue light shines high above the Canonsburg Presbyterian Church.
People are even going door-to-door collecting donations to help Officer Bashioum's family. He leaves behind a wife and four children.
"As those four children continue to grow, there's a lot of costs that will be incurred," says Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome. "They may be college tuitions, they may just be everyday monies that are needed to operate the household. On behalf of the family, we would like to say thank you to everybody. They are so warmed by the generosity of everybody."
A memorial fund has been set up in Officer Bashioum's honor.
McDonald's restaurants across Washington County and western Allegheny County are also hosting a collection called "Coffee for the Cops" to help raise money. For every donation made to the Scott Bashioum Children's Memorial Fund, customers will receive a free cup of coffee and a coupon for a breakfast sandwich. The money raised will then be turned over to the Benevolent Fund at Washington Financial in honor of Officer Bashioum.
"Our hope is that all the people that want to make some kind of contribution, and want to be part of this to help the family will come in today through the rest of the week and do what they need to do to make [themselves] feel good, and also help the family," says Ron Galiano, the owner and operator of McDonald's.
Nearby police departments are also chipping in to make sure Canonsburg police officers can take time to grieve Officer Bashioum's death. They're helping with everything from road closures to extra patrols.
"To not be able to worry about something like that, to have other chiefs go ahead and take the reins for such an undertaking like that is just a huge load off our plate," says Chief Coghill.
He also says that anyone who wants to pay their respects to Officer Bashioum is encouraged to come to Canonsburg on Wednesday to line Pike Street to say goodbye.
Chief Coghill also wants people to remember the other victims of the shooting incident.
"One of the things I would ask is, keep in your thoughts and prayers… we have an officer recovering from his wounds, [Officer James Saieva]," he said. "There's other victims involved. And you know, especially [Michael Cwiklinski's] wife. [Dalia Sabae] was the victim of a horrific crime of domestic violence. She didn't, as I understand, she didn't have very much support or people here in the United States. So I would ask that people please not forget her. She suffered a horrible death at the hands of [Cwiklinski]."
Officer Bashioum's funeral will be held at noon on Wednesday at the Church of the Covenant in Washington. Final preparations were underway there on Tuesday ahead of the service. Officer Saieva is expected to be in attendance at the service.
Thousands of police officers from around the country are expected to attend. Organizers are expecting 500 to 1,000 police cars for the procession through the streets. Click here for the details of the procession route.
A Canonsburg ladder truck will hoist an American flag over Pike Street as the funeral procession passes through, and blue ribbons now adorn every pole along the road.
Officer Bashioum will then be laid to rest at the Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
Due to the funeral, the Washington School District, Trinity Area School District and John F. Kennedy Catholic will be closed on Wednesday.
Junior and senior high students in the Chartiers-Houston School District will be dismissed beginning at 9:30 a.m. The elementary school will dismiss at 10:30 a.m.
Canon-McMillan Schools will begin dismissing students at 11 a.m.
Also, St. Patrick's School in Canonsburg will end classes at 12:30 p.m.
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