Police Officer Greggory Casillas

Police Officer Greggory Casillas
Pomono Police Department, California
End of Watch: March 9, 2018 BFTF Representatives That Attended Funeral: Steven DeMeo SGT 994 6th Pct
Kevin Naylor D/SGT 502 Retired
The following was shared with us by Steve: On March 21st retired D/SGT Kevin Naylor and myself deployed to Pomona California in support of the LOD shooting death of Pomona Police Officer Gregg Casillas. Officer Casillas was killed and another Officer was wounded by a barricaded suspect on March 9th. Pomona is located in Los Angeles County. I had spent a year as a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff from 1991-92 while on leave from SCPD and still have friends on the job there so this deployment carried a special meaning for me.
Our early morning flight almost did not happen as one of the numerous Nor’easters which eventually dumped 2 feet of snow on Long Island caused flight cancellations all around us. After some de-icing the flight squeaked out and things went smoothly. After arriving and settling into the hotel we met up with the members of the Brotherhood from Dallas, Ft Worth, Boston, Aurora, NYPD, and Chicago. A meet and greet dinner was held in a nearby restaurant and plans for the funeral the next day were formulated.
The funeral service was both somber and joyful, with the fallen Officer’s father and his brother in law relating humorous personal stories of Gregg’s short life. While we didn’t have snow in Southern California, we did have constant rain during the entire funeral, but still, many people lined the streets to show support as the long procession of marked Police cars followed the hearse to the cemetery. The LAPD and LA County Sheriff provided assistance in the form of a helicopter flyover with missing man formation, a 21 gun salute, a bugler, full pipe band, and even 4 horses with one rider less with boots turned backwards in the stirrups representing a fallen leader looking back on his troops.
Many local Officers were very interested in our mission and expressed a desire to start their own chapter of the Brotherhood of the Fallen.  We awoke to California sunshine the next day for our return flight, and almost all of the snow on Long Island had melted, a good omen for both coasts.
Thank you Steve and Kevin for representing us so well. We are proud to have you as members of the Brotherhood For The Fallen, Suffolk County, NY.