By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Police officer Norvelle Brown was buried today (Monday) at a cemetery in north St. Louis County, after a funeral procession that included a long line of police cars from a number of departments.
Meanwhile, the 15-year old who's accused of shooting Brown last week will make his first court appearance tomorrow (Tuesday).
Bagpipers led the procession down the steps of the Circle of Light Church in north city. A couple hundred saluting officers stood in the rain on the church's lawn.
Half of the pallbearers carrying the casket were police; the other half were friends and family, many of them wore white T-shirts with Brown's photo on the front.
Mayor Francis Slay, County Executive Charlie Dooley and Police Board Chair Chris Goodson all stood nearby, next to police chief Joe Mokwa.
"You know, there's the ceremonial functions that require a lot of attention, then when it's over you really have to deal with your grief and I think that's what we're all going to go through today and for the next couple days," Mokwa said, before the ceremony.
Brown was 22 years old and had been a policeman for just nine months. His accused killer will go before a juvenile court judge Tuesday. There's been no decision yet as to whether to try him as an adult.