SHEFFIELD, Ala. — A "Hero’s Welcome Home" for Sheffield Police Officer Sergeant Nick Risner.
The fallen officer, just 40 years old, was laid to rest Friday after being killed in the line of duty to save others just one week ago.
FOX54 News' Keneisha Deas was at the funeral service in Florence and has the story.
Family, friends, and every law enforcement agency imaginable in the Shoals and Tennessee Valley paid their final respects to a hero.
"I seen the things that were done, by myself and other officers, and Nick wanted to help people," said Sheffield Police Officer, Lt. Max Dotson.
One woman was too emotional to speak, but her shirt and the images on it is worth a thousand words.
She says she was suicidal, and Risner helped save her life. Her life is one of the many lives Sgt. Risner touched.
“This was a very loving, kind of man the kind of man that you’d like to have in your police force, especially in a small town,” said Florence resident, Eric Fraser.
The family extended an online guestbook for people to sign. To sign, click here.
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Funeral arrangements have been announced for fallen Sheffield officer Sgt. Nick Risner.
Private visitation for family and members of law enforcement only will be from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Friday.
A public visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at Faith Church, 3601 Florence Blvd., Florence with a funeral service to follow at 2:00 p.m.
A private graveside service, for family and members of law enforcement only, will follow.
Livestream courtesy of Faith Church, Florence
The Facebook post from the Sheffield Police Department reads:
Official arrangements and timeline for the service per the family. We’ve been asked several questions and there’s been some confusion and misunderstanding, so hope this clears it up.
It’ll be this Friday, Oct. 8th, at Faith Church in Florence
We have a private family viewing for only Family and Nick’s fellow Officers that morning 9-10:30am.
Public viewing and visitation will go from 11-2pm.
Following the visitation ending, The Funeral service, which is also public, will begin at 2:00pm
There will be a Live Stream of the Service Online for those unable to make it in person.
We’re not sure how long it will last, but after the service we will be having a Private Graveside service for family and his fellow officers.
We understand everyone wants to honor OUR Hero, and, honestly from the bottom of our hearts, we will never be able to Thank everyone enough. We’re constantly watching your videos and going through the pictures of everyone, and I think I can speak for everyone of us in the family when I say, it’s one of the things that’s comforting us the most during all of this. So please keep it up, He deserves it all! And come give him the final send off he deserves in true Hero fashion. But for our final goodbye at the graveside we want our family to be able to do it in a proper way, for us and Him. After all, just bc we’re sending him off, we know His legacy will continue to live on in all the lives he’s touched in his life, and continues to after He’s gone.
A GoFundMe fundraiser set up on behalf of the family of fallen Sheffield police officer Sgt. Nick Risner has surpassed its $5,000 goal, raising $18,970 as of 5 p.m. on Monday.
Sgt. Risner is one of the two officers who were shot in Muscle Shoals on Friday. He died from his injuries Saturday morning. The GoFundMe reads as follows:
"As most of you may know, Nick Risner was shot October 1st in active duty in Sheffield, Alabama. He went home to his King on Saturday, October 2nd at 9:52 am. He has served with Sheffield Police Department for 8+ years. If you know Nick, you knew how awesome he was and how much he loved his job, family, and friends. This is for to help raise money to help him and his family for any medical bills and funeral expenses."
The Sheffield Police Department also announced they have set up a Good Samaritan account with Bank Independent Bank. You can donate at any branch.
As of 5 p.m. on Monday, 248 people have contributed to the fundraiser and it has been shared more than 1,400 times.
To donate to the fundraiser or to find out more information, visit its GoFundMe page.
The second officer, Lt. Max Dotson, was struck in his bulletproof vest. He was treated at Helen Keller Hospital and was later released.