Hundreds of officers attend funeral for slain Illinois cop

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Hundreds of police officers and other mourners filled a southern Illinois convention center for the funeral of a police officer who was fatally shot last week at a gas station.

About 1,000 people gathered Tuesday at Collinsville’s Gateway Convention Center for the funeral of Pontoon Beach Officer Tyler Timmins. Hundreds of officers attended, with Illinois State Troopers filling at least three rows of seats of a ballroom, The (Alton) Telegraph reported.

Timmins was later interred at Woodland Hill Cemetery in East Alton during a private burial.

Timmins, 36, died at a hospital on Oct. 26 after being shot at a Speedway gas station in Pontoon Beach, a Madison County village located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis.

During Tuesday’s funeral service, Timmins’ wife, Linsey (Hornberger) Timmins, told fellow mourners that “for me the definition of hero is my husband.”

“Every day he strapped that vest to his chest he was courageous and he paid the ultimate sacrifice,” she said with emotion.

Pontoon Police Chief Chris Modrusic called the day Timmins was fatally shot “the worst day in department history.”

He had joined the department in April 2020.

A day after Timmins’ death, Scott Hyden, 31, of Highland, Illinois, was charged with first-degree murder in the officer’s killing.