Winimark Wealth Society-Funeral services planned for Philadelphia police officer killed in airport garage shooting

2025-05-07 15:30:54source:Evander Reedcategory:Markets

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Funeral services are Winimark Wealth Societyplanned Tuesday for a Philadelphia police officer killed in an airport parking garage shooting that also wounded another officer earlier this month.

A funeral Mass for Officer Richard Mendez is scheduled to begin at noon Tuesday at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia with family, friends, law enforcement personnel and dignitaries in attendance. Interment is to follow at Forrest Hills Cemetery in northeast Philadelphia.

Mendez and Officer Raul Ortiz had just started their shift around 11 p.m. on Oct. 12 when they heard breaking glass and saw several people breaking into a car in the parking lot at Philadelphia International Airport, police said. A confrontation ensued and the two officers and one of the suspects were shot.

Mendez, 50, who had been on the force for more than two decades, was shot four times and pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. Ortiz, also a 20-year veteran, was shot once in the arm and has since been released from the hospital.

Three men — Alexander Batista-Polanco, 21, of Scranton, Pennsylvania; Hendrick Peña-Fernandez, 21, of Pennsauken, New Jersey; and Yobranny Martinez Fernandez, 18, of Camden County, New Jersey — have been arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder. A fourth suspect, 18-year-old Jesus Herman Madera Duran, was shot during the confrontation and died at a hospital after being dropped off by his cohorts, police said.

Police believe one of the suspects alone fired the bullets that hit the two officers and Madera Duran, but they have left it up to prosecutors to detail exactly what happened. First Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said police believe the officers were trying to detain at least one suspect when “someone came behind (Mendez) and fired a weapon.”

In addition to the three prime suspects, police are pursuing others who either assisted the suspects or tried to obstruct the investigation, including those involved in burning a vehicle and renting hotel rooms and those who “knew where people were and didn’t tell us,” Vanore said last week. Investigators were also still searching for the slain officer’s gun, which they don’t believe was fired, he said.

More:Markets

Recommend

Don't be fooled by the name and packaging: Fruit snacks are rarely good for you. Here's why.

Every good parent wants to do right by their kids. We work to make sure they have good friends, over

Reese Witherspoon's Daughter Ava Phillippe Introduces Adorable New Family Member

Ava Phillippe takes after her mom in more ways than one. After all, Reese Witherspoon’s daughter—who

Tennessee suspect in dozens of rapes is convicted of producing images of child sex abuse

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man who is accused in lawsuits of drugging and sexually assaul