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NYPD officers honor former colleague killed in Texas

Brooklyn Native David Hofer Worked in NY’s Ninth Precinct

March 8, 2016 By Verena Dobnik Associated Press

Marta Danylyk, second from left, arrives for the funeral Mass for her fiancé, Euless, Texas, Police Officer David Hofer, on Monday at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Hofer was killed Tuesday, March 1, while responding to reports of shots fired in a park. Hofer was a 2008 graduate of New York University who served in the NYPD for five years before joining the Euless Police Department in 2014. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Marta Danylyk, second from left, arrives for the funeral Mass for her fiancé, Euless, Texas, Police Officer David Hofer, on Monday at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Hofer was killed Tuesday, March 1, while responding to reports of shots fired in a park. Hofer was a 2008 graduate of New York University who served in the NYPD for five years before joining the Euless Police Department in 2014. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

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Hundreds of NYPD officers lined Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Monday in a farewell salute to a former NYPD colleague who was gunned down in Texas.

Brooklyn native David Hofer, an officer in the Dallas suburb of Euless, was celebrated at a memorial Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. NYPD officers in dress uniform were among thousands of mourners praying before his cremated remains.

A Euless police officer had carried the cherry wood box with Hofer’s ashes bearing his name to the altar, near some daisies and a sign that read, “Blue Lives Matter.”

His fiancée, Marta Danylyk, wept quietly, sitting close to Hofer’s mother, Sonja Hofer, and his father, Helmut Hofer.

“He went to Texas to make a good life, but once you put a shield on your chest, you’re always in danger,” Pat Lynch, head of New York’s Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, said after the service.

The 29-year-old was killed Tuesday while responding to reports of shots fired in a Euless park. As he and his partner approached, the gunman opened fire, mortally wounding Hofer. His partner returned fire, killing the man.

A New York University graduate, Hofer spent five years working in New York’s Ninth Precinct in the East Village. He left two years ago for Euless, whose police department has welcomed several former NYPD officers to its ranks.

On a sunny Monday morning, the lone bagpiped sound of “Amazing Grace” rang over Fifth Avenue as Hofer’s remains were carried out of the cathedral, the seat of New York’s Roman Catholic archdiocese.

Msgr. Robert Ritchie, who presided over the Mass, summed up Hofer’s life in three words from the pulpit: “Respect, honor, love.”

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