New Mexico
Fallen Bloomfield officer takes final trip home in procession
From Albuquerque to Bernalillo, Cuba to San Juan County. A procession of officers escorted Bloomfield Police Officer Timothy Ontiveros on his final trip home.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – From Albuquerque to Bernalillo, Cuba to San Juan County. A procession of officers escorted Bloomfield Police Officer Timothy Ontiveros on his final trip home.
Ontiveros died Sunday after being shot during a traffic stop on May 26. Another officer killed the driver.
A procession left the Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque around 10 Tuesday morning. They traveled along I-25 to Highway 550 for the trip north to San Juan County.
All along the route, people paid their respects to an officer who lost his life in the line of duty.
“It’s just sad. We always support the police officers, firefighters, because they do a lot for the community. They protect us,” said Jeannie Poncho, a San Juan County resident.
New Mexicans waved American flags along the route.
“Just to show respect to a hero that protects our community, and that we all love all our towns, Farmington, Bloomfield, Aztec. He served all of those towns,” said Audrey Gordon, another San Juan County resident.
In Bloomfield, Ontiveros received a hero’s welcome with hundreds of people along the processional route.
“You could tell people loved Tim by the looks of the crowd out here,” said Felipa Valencia, Ontiveros’ relative. “We love him, and we’re going to miss him.”