Shuttle service to accommodate thousands expected to honor Officer Burton

Mike Emery, Richmond Palladium-Item
·4 min read
Officer Seara Burton and her K-9 partner, Brev, began duty together in April.
Officer Seara Burton and her K-9 partner, Brev, began duty together in April.

RICHMOND, Ind. — Thousands are expected to attend Richmond Police Department K-9 Officer Seara Burton's Sunday viewing and Monday funeral.

The city is developing off-site parking and shuttle service plans that will accommodate those wishing to honor the four-year officer who died Sept. 18, 17 days after she was taken off life support. Burton, 28, was shot in the head Aug. 10 during a traffic stop.

She will lie in state inside the Richmond Municipal Building, 50 N. Fifth St., for public viewing from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday. Burton's funeral will be at 11 a.m. Monday inside Richmond High School's Tiernan Center, 380 Hub Etchison Parkway. After the funeral, a procession will escort Burton to Indianapolis' Crown Hill Cemetery, where she will be interred in a section labeled Heroes of Public Safety.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvER_klzGAg&t=3s

“Please understand we are expecting a high volume of law enforcement and civilian guests from around the country,” Mayor Dave Snow said in a social media video addressing the city's plans.

Parking and shuttles provide the key to handling the crowds.

"This additional parking and free shuttle service will allow everyone an opportunity to pay respects to our fallen hero and her family," Snow said in the video.

Parking and shuttle maps will are being posted on a special page linked from the city website's home page at richmondindiana.gov.

The plans for Sunday's viewing limit city building parking to first responders only. Free shuttle services using school buses will be available from these parking areas:

  • WellCare Community Health lot, 203 E. Main St.;

  • Wayne County Health Department log, 100 S. Fifth St.;

  • Wayne Bank lot, 500 S. A St.;

  • Lot behind the former Elder-Beerman, 601 E. Main St.;

  • City parking garage, 20 S. Eighth St.; and

  • City parking lot, 100 S. 10th St.

In addition, accessibility parking with shuttle service using paratransit buses will be available at Dennis Middle School, 222 N.W. Seventh St., for anyone who cannot enter a standard school bus.

For Monday's funeral, Hub Etchison Parkway and other roads around Richmond High School will be closed, including the G Street Bridge. Law enforcement vehicles will stage on Hub Etchison for the procession to Indianapolis that follows the service. Officers have been asked to begin arriving at 8:30 a.m.

Members of the public are invited to join the procession to Crown Hill Cemetery. Those people should head south to Hub Etchison Parkway and receive direction on where to park.

Anyone not traveling to Indianapolis should either park and walk or use parking lots with shuttle service. Shuttle service will begin at 9 a.m. Monday and will drop riders off in front of Tiernan Center. Shuttles will not resume after the service until the procession has left the high school. That means it could take an hour or two after the service to return to the parking lots.

The lots offering shuttles are:

  • City parking lot, 100 S. 10th St.;

  • Reid Health's PACE Center lot, 2300 National Road W.; and

  • Cordell Municipal Pool, 9 S.W. 13th St.

In addition, Dennis Middle School will again be used for those with mobility issues who need paratransit buses for transportation.

The funeral begins at 11 a.m. with law enforcement officers in attendance walking past Burton's casket. That is expected to take about an hour. The service, which will have seven speakers, is expected to last until about 1:30 p.m., with the procession leaving approximately 2:30 p.m.

The procession to Indianapolis will cross the G Street Bridge, then turn left onto South Fifth Street. It will follow South Fifth to the city building, which houses the police department, and pause for a final 10-42 call indicating end of watch.

The procession will turn onto North A Street, curving around the city building to East Main Street. After turning right onto East Main, it will pass under a garrison flag at First and West Main streets.

After passing beneath the flag, the procession will continue to South West Fifth Street, turning left toward U.S. 40. After turning right onto U.S. 40, it will follow U.S. 40 all the way to Illinois Street in Indianapolis, turning right onto Illinois Street and proceeding to 34th Street. A left turn onto 34th Street takes the procession to the Crown Hill Cemetery entrance.

The procession is expected to take three to three-and-a-half hours to reach the cemetery, where there will be a committal service. Members of the public are invited to safely line the procession route and pay tribute to Burton.

Gov. Eric J. Holcomb on Friday directed flags in the state of Indiana to be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset Monday in Burton's honor. Businesses and residents are asked to comply.

The message board outside the Wayne County Courthouse mourns Sunday's death of Richmond Police Department Officer Seara Burton.
The message board outside the Wayne County Courthouse mourns Sunday's death of Richmond Police Department Officer Seara Burton.

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Shuttle service to accommodate thousands who will honor Officer Burton