Officers from more than a dozen police departments came to pay respect Monday to a Chicago police officer who was fatally struck by a van being pursued by other officers.
"You could not ask for a better man," Kevin Coleman said. "He was a good man in everything he did."
David Harris, 42, had just gotten off work and was minutes away from home on March 14 when a speeding van slammed into his car, pushing it against a light pole near 87th and South Lafayette.
Harris died at the scene. He was still in his police uniform.
Shanell Terrell, 31, faces murder charges. Prosecutors said Terrell was driving a van being pursued by Calumet Park Police when she plowed into Harris in a black Lexus.
Supt. Garry McCarthy called the crash a "terrible tragedy."
Harris was a highly-decorated, 10-year veteran of Chicago's force. Before he joined the Chicago Police Department, he was a member of Maywood's police force.
"If you didn't know him," John Russell, Harris' uncle, said, "you missed knowing a great person."
"It's heartbreaking for me," Harris' cousin Tonya Harris said.
Family and friends said Harris loved his family, his job and helping others. It's a heartbreaking loss for a man who many say was an outstanding officer.
"There was nothing anyone could say that was bad about that guy," coworker Elijah Willis said.
