Hundreds honor slain Lorain police officer in procession to funeral home (VIDEO)

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Lorain police officer Phillip Wagner came home Friday. The 35-year-old North Ridgeville man died Thursday after being shot in an ambush that left two other Lorain officers injured on Wednesday. On Friday, a motorcade of hundreds of police vehicles from at least 45 different local, state and federal police and fire agencies filed westbound on I-480 to Liston Funeral Home in North Ridgeville, an honor guard flanking the hearse as it drove past crowds of onlookers. The motorcade departed from the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office on Cleveland's Cedar Avenue just after 4 p.m. Friday. As officers completed their 26-mile journey, they saw hundreds, if not thousands, of residents lining the roadways. People gathered on footbridges and sidewalks overlooking the interstate, many hanging American and police flags from overpass fences. Others parked their vehicles on the closed exit and entrance ramps and stepped out of their cars to pay their respects and wave. Keith Schoonover, of North Olmsted, stood on an overpass of the North Olmsted Walking and Biking Trail with more than a dozen other people as the motorcade drove past. "Police officers put their lives out on the line every day for everybody, and people just don't realize it," Schoonover said. "I think people take it for granted that police officers are just going to be there no matter what, but every day they leave their families not sure if they'll be back. … It is heartwarming how many people do show up for situations like this." The ride was led by two rows of police officers on motorcycles, followed after a short distance by four more motorcycle officers who flanked on each corner the hearse that carried Wagner home. Once in North Ridgeville, the motorcade passed underneath an American flag-draped archway created by ladder trucks from the Avon and North Ridgeville fire departments at Center Ridge and Avon Belden roads. Blue ribbons tied to utility poles along the main thoroughfare ruffled in the humid air. Angie Martin, a member of Sheffield Church of God, where Wagner's sister-in-law attends services, tied the ribbons ahead of the motorcade's arrival. "The best is they know Phil's heart was with the Lord, that's the only thing that brings peace," she said. Photos on a GoFundMe for Wagner's family, created by his sister-in-law Kasie Tillman earlier this week, show him at church services. That GoFundMe has raised more than $113,000. Retired Elyria police Sgt. David Mayne, his wife, Kathy, daughter Stephanie Riggs and granddaughter Brexley Riggs, 4, gathered near the archway created by the two fire trucks. Mayne is part of Blue Knights OH-5, a law enforcement motorcycle club, which donates to the families of fallen officers to cover rent, utilities and other expenses that may arise before the family receives any of their loved one's death benefits. Wagner is the third Ohio family to receive the Blue Knight Ohio's support this year, Mayne said. An Elyria police officer for more than 30 years, Mayne remembered when Officer James Kerstetter was shot and killed in the line of duty on March 15, 2010. Looking out at the hundred of people lining Center Ridge Road, his wife said the scene "brings back awful memories." "(They) shouldn't have to go through this," David Mayne said. Prior to Wagner, Kerstetter was the last Lorain County law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty. Other onlookers shared their condolences while waiting for the motorcade to pass by. "It's just so sad," said Nora Steele of North Ridgeville, who showed up to stand alongside Center Ridge Road to pay her respects to Wagner. She said she hoped to see "a lot of people" show up. Next door to Liston Funeral Home, First Congregational Church's sign outside, surrounded by three small American flags, read "RIP Officer Wagner." A few steps to the east, hanging on a utility pole was a lone, red U.S. Marine Corps flag waving in the breeze. Wagner was a Marine Corps veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan, one each in 2009 and 2011. Along the fence line of North Ridgeville Center Cemetery, Lindsey Bowden and her kids, Hudson Block, 3, and Shawn Block, 11, held a police flag and American flag. Bowden grew up with Wagner's wife, Jessica. She said she's known Jessica Wagner for upwards of 15 years, attends the same church and lives up the street from the Wagner family. Jessica and Phillip Wagner married in 2017 and have young three children. Bowden's youngest son often plays with the Wagners' children, she said. She first heard of the ambush on Facebook and did not realize Phillip Wagner was involved — she said she reached out to another friend whose husband works at LPD, thinking he may have been injured. When she heard it was Wagner who had been shot, she said she instantly broke down crying. "I hope police departments start putting bulletproof windows on all their cars, this isn't the first time this has happened," Bowden said. Nearby on Center Ridge Landon Novosielski, 13, a member of the Elyria High School Marching Band, brought his trumpet and sounded taps for the fallen officer. His trumpet, as well as a bagpiper farther down the roadway, were drowned out by the cacophony of police sirens as cruisers filled the street. A block of motorcycle officers, followed by hundreds of police cruisers, blocked the roadway. Lorain police cruisers filed into the funeral home and nearby church parking lots. Lorain police's SWAT team removed Wagner's body from the hearse, and a block of hundreds of area law enforcement officers saluted their fallen friend and colleague as he was taken into Liston Funeral Home. The funeral will be Wednesday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. A time was not available Friday. Owen MacMillan and David O'Brien contributed to this report. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.