Funerals held for young bomb victim, slain officer
Apr 24, 2013, 1:19 AM
BOSTON (AP) – Funerals were held Tuesday for the 8-year-old boy killed in the Boston Marathon bombing and the college police officer authorities say was shot by the bombing suspects.
A private funeral Mass was held in the morning for young Martin Richard, followed by his burial, a family statement said. Only immediate family members attended. A funeral also was held for Massachusetts Institute of Technology police Officer Sean Collier, fatally shot three days after the bombing.
“The outpouring of love and support over the last week has been tremendous,” the Richards’ statement said. “This has been the most difficult week of our lives and we appreciate that our friends and family have given us space to grieve and heal.”
The family, from Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, said it would hold a public memorial service in the coming weeks to celebrate Martin’s life.
Martin was among three people killed when two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15. His mother and younger sister, who’s in first grade, were among the more than 260 others wounded.
Krystle Campbell, 29, of Medford, and Lu Lingzi, a 23-year-old Boston University graduate student from China, also died in the attack. On Monday, Campbell’s funeral was at St. Joseph Church in Medford, Mass., and a memorial for Lu took place on Boston University’s campus hours later.
On Wednesday, MIT will hold a memorial service for Collier. Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to attend.
MIT students and thousands of law enforcement officers also are expected to attend, but the university says the event isn’t open to the public.
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