Charlotte-Mecklenburg North Carolina Community Finds Light in Dark Anniversary 4 Police Officers' Killing

By Julia Coin

Source The Charlotte Observer

Ashley Eyer knows darkness lies ahead. But on Sunday, clear skies and the support of thousands briefly blocked it out.

April 29 will forever be remembered as the day she lost Joshua Eyer, her best friend and husband. For Charlotte, it will be remembered as the day of the east Charlotte shootout that killed four law enforcement officers last year.

“Together as we survive a painful, dark cloud that will cover us all in two days and in the days that follow… do not stifle your emotions,” she said to those mourning with her outside Bank of America stadium Sunday.

“There is a good reason for them,” she said to a crowd of about 2,000. “In fact, there are four good reasons.”

Joshua Eyer died alongside three others that day: Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas “Tommy” Weeks and N.C. Department of Adult Correction Officers Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott. Officers were trying to serve a warrant when a suspect fired at least 100 rounds from an AR-15 rifle and a 40-caliber handgun. Eyer was just one officer who responded for backup.

Since their deaths, Ashley Eyer says she has asked herself countless questions and “wrestled to find answers and logic” to explain the nightmare she’s living.

Now, she’s focusing on a new question: “Why am I still here?”

“Though my answer may be different tomorrow, I know why I am still here today,” she said during her first public appearance since her husband’s funeral last year. “I am here to remind us all that death will never overshadow one’s life. I am here to be with my family and my son and show him a glimpse of the impact that his daddy had on thousands of people.”

Hearts and tears dropped at mention of the Eyers’ son, Andrew. He was only 2 when he attended his father’s funeral in uptown last year.

But then came smiles.

Uptown Charlotte stair climb for 9/11 and April 29

Many of the thousands amassed outside the stadium wore hats or clothes signaling their solidarity with law enforcement. They danced and hugged and laughed before the main event that drew them out: a stair climb hosted by stadium owner David Tepper and Tunnel to Towers, an organization that annually honors first responders who died during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

“The … climb is symbolic,” CMPD Police Chief Johnny Jennings said to the crowd. “It represents the uphill battles our officers face, the weight we carry when we lose one of our own and the strength we find when we climb together…. This past year has been one of the most difficult in our department’s history. But through the heartbreak, Charlotte has stood beside us.... We are still healing, but we are also still moving forward.”

On Saturday, CMPD published on YouTube an hourlong documentary on about the shooting titled “One Year Later: Remembering the Fallen.”

Joining Jennings on stage were Mayor Vi Lyles and representatives from the U.S. Marshals Service and the N.C. Department of Adult Correction. An American flag hanging from an extended firetruck ladder cast fluttering shadows over speakers.

Among them was Kelly Weeks, the widow of fallen marshal Tommy Weeks. She spoke mostly of her gratitude to the founder of Tunnel to Towers, who sat to her right.

Frank Siller lost his brother — a New York firefighter — in the 9/11 attacks and promptly started the foundation. Within 48 hours of the April 29 shooting, he called Kelly Weeks as she lay on her sofa in the middle of the night, her mind racing with all the things she needed to take care of.

Siller’s organization has paid off both Week’s and Eyer’s mortgages, he told reporters.

Remembering April 29

In the crowd stood firefighters, first responders, families and officers injured in the shooting. Local officials, including Mecklenburg District Attorney Spencer Merriweather, and stars like former Carolina Panthers star player Steve Smith, Sr., joined them.

“Today is about remembering the officers who gave the ultimate sacrifice and the families that love them and cherish their memory,” Merriweather said in a statement to The Charlotte Observer. “We consider ourselves lucky to be a part of a community that came together to support them this morning.”

Just past 10 a.m., six firefighters in full gear ran through the Panthers tunnel, onto the field, and past cheerleaders and drumline members. Smith — a Panthers legend and N.C. Sports Hall of Famer — stood on the field that for 13 seasons hosted him as a wide receiver following his 2001 third round NFL draft pick.

“I just wanted to support,” he said. “Didn’t have the legs to run since I just landed a couple hours ago.”

Smith took a red eye flight from Los Angeles to Charlotte for the event, he told the Observer.

Smith’s own foundation is typically involved in events like Sunday’s, he said, but this one hit closer home. Smith, a Charlotte resident of more than 15 years, is good friends with Chief Jennings and Mayor Lyles — and his brother is a firefighter in North Las Vegas.

“I’m very aware of all this and understanding that these men and women put their lives on the line every single day without knowing what the outcome is going to be.”

As climbers — more firefighters, officers and community members — ran through the tunnel, smiles and somber looks swirled across the field. Some had handwritten odes to the fallen on their race numbers:

In memory of Weeks.

In memory of Poloche.

In memory of Elliot.

In memory of Eyer.

Ashley Eyer’s last words to attendees lingered: “Remember them as fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, friends. Remember their laughs and their little quirks. Remember that you loved them long before you lost them ... I am still here, and so are you, so let’s make it count. Okay? … And wear your sunscreen.”

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