Hundreds of friends, family and other law enforcement members gathered Friday morning to honor and lay to rest Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer.

Bagpipes could be heard throughout the streets as Eyer’s casket, draped in an American flag, was carried by a caisson unit, with one horse following behind with no rider for Officer Eyer, down East Trade Street to First Baptist Church on South Davidson Street.

The casket was carried into the church by his father, three siblings and brothers-in-law.

The funeral service for Eyer began around 10:15 a.m., with the church filled well beyond capacity. After the service, a procession is escorting Eyer to Sharon Memorial Park on Monroe Road. 

CMPD livestreamed the service, which can be viewed here.

Along with thousands of officers, the funeral was attended by Ashley and Andrew Eyer, Joshua’s widow and 3-year-old son, and his parents and other members of his family, who sat in the first row, just in front of the casket. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Chief of Police Johnny Jennings and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper were also in attendance.

The first eulogy was delivered by Pastor Justin Wallace.

“We are asking why did God allow this to happen? We ask how can we walk through times of suffering?” Wallace said.

Eyer is one of four law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty on Monday, April 29 in a normally quiet northeast Charlotte neighborhood. Four other officers were injured, but are expected to recover.

The funeral also featured eulogies from Eyer’s friends, other police officers and his widow, Ashley.

The crowd gave Ashely Eyer a standing ovation after she poured out her heart, through tears and occasional sobs, telling everyone how special their love was.

“He was and always will be my very best friend,” she said. “He was so, so, so good to me.”

She said they did everything together.

“I never questioned how much he loved me, and I will carry this love with me for the rest of my life.”

Eyer’s 3-year-old son sat in his mother’s lap through most of the service.

“Such a scar on our community and profession,” Jennings said when he spoke. Earlier this week, Jennings tried but failed to fight back his tears as he gave an emotional update on the incident at a news conference

At the service Friday, Jennings said he and his wife searched the Bible the night before the funeral for an uplifting verse, but nothing felt right until a friend sent him a line from the Book of Jeremiah, stating:

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things, [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish,” Jennings read.

Jennings also said he was speaking from the heart.

“Officer Josh Eyer, you are honorable, you are noble. Officer Eyer, you represent everything great about this badge I wear over my heart, and this patch I wear on my sleeve,” Jennings said.

Those who worked with Eyer also delivered eulogies.

“There’s no good way to start,” Officer Nicholas Ferreira said, looking down at the podium, taking a long pause as he held back tears.

Ferreira and Eyer started at the police academy together in 2016, and Ferreira recounted their experiences working together on the force.

“Josh was everything I could only hope to be,” he said.

Ferreira said he looked up to Eyer like an older brother, but knew him most as a family man.

“What I’m most proud of is the father and husband I knew him to be,” Ferreira said, followed by a long pause. “I know Andrew is too young to understand, but best believe we will let him know the true hero his father was.”

“I love you, Josh, and I know you’re here with us watching over. Until we meet again, may you rest in peace, my brother,” Ferreira said.

Eyer’s best friend, Charlie Sardelli, also delivered a eulogy, thanking the community for coming together to celebrate Eyer’s life.

“As big as Josh is, he made the ability to make the world feel small,” Sardelli said. “When he spoke to you, all he did was listen.”

The funeral ended with a prayer from CMPD Chaplain Lonnie Clouse and the playing of "Amazing Grace." Thousands of police officers and other funeral attendees stood silently as the bagpipes echoed throughout the church.

Eyer’s casket will now be taken to Sharon Memorial Gardens Cemetery, where he will be laid to rest with honors after a 21-rifle salute.

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The 4 officers killed in N.C. were tough but kind and loved their jobs, friends say

Several members of a U.S. Marshals Service joint-agency task force were attempting to serve warrants on a suspect charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of eluding when the deadly shooting happened. The suspect began shooting at officers before being killed in front of the home, police said.

Officer William “Alden” Elliott, Officer Sam Poloche and Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks Jr. also died as a result of the shooting.

It is the deadliest attack on U.S. law enforcement since 2016, according to The Associated Press.

Eyer, 31, had just been named one of the department’s employees of the month for April.

“Just a few weeks ago I’m shaking his hand congratulating him for being Officer of the Month in our command center. And that’s because of his work in the community, because of his work getting guns off the street and because of how he responds to his cases and how he treats people,” Jennings said at a news conference on Tuesday.

“As he demonstrated yesterday, he’s the kind of officer you want to respond when you need help. He was rushing in to help a task force officer when he was taken on by gunfire,” Jennings said.

Eyer, a native of Hackettstown, New Jersey, had served with the department for six years in the North Tryon Division and was a member of the 178th Recruit Class, according to police.

In addition to his job with the police, Eyer served in the North Carolina Army National Guard from 2011 to 2023, when he was honorably discharged. He obtained the rank of sergeant first class and deployed overseas twice, according to the Guard. He was a military police soldier for most of his career apart from a period in 2019 when he served as a combat engineer, according to the Guard.

Brandon Mancilla said he served with Eyer in Kuwait in 2020, where Eyer was in charge of some of his missions.

Eyer was tough and strict, but also kind, he said.

“I was a 19-year-old, an immature kid, but I just needed somebody who was going to be patient,” Mancilla said. “The cool thing is he realized that and would show you the right way to do things. ... He talked to me almost like a father would talk to a son.”

Officials say a procession for Poloche will begin at 3 p.m. Friday, beginning at the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office. His casket will be taken to Forest Lawn West Funeral Home on Freedom Drive.