MONTROSE — Thousands of people lined the streets of Montrose to pay tribute as the casket carrying police Sgt. David Kinterknecht was carried to the city cemetery this afternoon.
Adults sitting in lawn chairs and children propped up in wagons waived American flags as a 1923 fire truck known as “Leapin’ Lena” moved slowly from Montrose High School, where the officer’s funeral had been held.
Kinterknecht’s wife and daughters and dozens of other friends and relatives walked the final few blocks of the 45-minute procession to Cedar Cemetery, where a 21-gun salute awaited.
Kinterknecht, 41, was killed and two officers were wounded Saturday when they responded to a domestic-violence report at a home in the Cobble Creek neighborhood. Investigators have identified the shooter as 52-year-old Dennis E. Gurney and say he took his own life.
At the high school, the 1,500-seat gymnasium was full and at least 300 people watched by a video hookup in an auxiliary gym as Gov. Bill Ritter and others paid tribute to the fallen officer for nearly two hours.
Ritter told the crowd that he was there not as governor but as a representative of the people of Colorado thanking Kinterknecht for his sacrifice.
After the service, Kinterknecht’s casket was carried from the gym, toward an honor guard of about 600 officers representing police departments from Cortez to Craig, Grand Junction to Aurora, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Revenue.
The entrance to the honor guard was marked by the two officers wounded in the shootout Saturday.
Larry Witte, in his full dress uniform, was seated in a wheelchair on one side of the aisle; Rodney Ragsdale, propped up in an ambulance stretcher, was on the other.
Jean Garcia said she came to the funeral with her grandson because Kinterknecht used to ride in a patrol car with her son, who was in law enforcement at the time. The officers would visit her home during breaks to eat beans, potatoes, tortillas and chiles, she said.
“He was just a wonderful person,” Garcia said. “He was one of the best.”
Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com
