Mourners line route taking Shahnavaz to Crown Hill Cemetery
Aug. 7—INDIANAPOLIS — It's been 38 years since Theresa Berghoff lived in Elwood.
But on Saturday, she joined a random group of about a dozen people outside the Meridian Street United Methodist Church in Indianapolis to await the procession escorting slain Elwood Police Officer Noah Shahnavaz to Crown Hill Cemetery where he was laid to rest.
"It's devastating because Officer Shahnavaz didn't stand a chance," she said.
Berghoff's group was one of many that waited along the route, first on the roads leading to ITOWN Church in Fishers and in the parking lots of the nearby shopping centers and later along U.S. 31 starting at 146th Street. American flags were unfurled on overpasses from fire trucks and other first responder vehicles.
Crown Hill Cemetery, where Shahnavaz will be buried in the Heroes of Public Safety Section, was the final stop on a 77-mile trek through three Central Indiana counties. The historic cemetery is the final resting place of many luminaries, including Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Booth Tarkington, Los Angeles Raiders football player Stacy Toran, and John Woodruff, the first African-American gold medalist at the Berlin Olympics in 1936.
The burial ceremony was steeped in law enforcement tradition, including an escort by bagpipers of the hearse carrying Shahnavaz and the folding and presentation of the flag that has draped his casket for days.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers representing departments from Lawrenceburg to Fort Wayne wore white carnations upside down under their badges, then laid the carnations on the casket.
The various events, including the funeral and burial, were attended by representatives from each of Madison County's law enforcement agencies.
The hearse, which arrived at the cemetery about 5:30 p.m., was followed by a new Elwood police cruiser that Shahnavaz had helped pick up a few weeks ago. A decal with his name and date of death had been placed on the back window.
The ceremony took place in an area that could accommodate hundreds of law enforcement officers and dozens of families, rather than at Shahnavaz's actual grave.
Members of the public appeared from among the graves to witness the ceremony.
Berghoff is a volunteer for Gun Sense Action Network, an organization that is trying to persuade lawmakers to put reasonable firearms restrictions in place while respecting individuals' Second Amendment rights.
"I was very concerned about the permitless carry in this case," she said, referencing a new state law.
Shahnavaz suffered a fatal gunshot wound during a traffic stop early the morning of July 31.
Carrying a sign that simply said "Noah," Carmel residents Mary and Gabe Thomas were part of the group awaiting the procession at the church beginning about 1:30 p.m. Several passersby had stopped and asked them what was going on and when the procession was expected.
"It could be your son," Mary Thomas said. "He was anything you could want in a son."
Follow Rebecca R. Bibbs on Twitter at @RebeccaB_THB, or call 765-640-4883.
