S. Utah towns honor fallen officer

ORDERVILLE — As Bruce Harris addressed the media late Thursday, he was able to smile and even crack a few jokes while thanking everyone for their love and support through his family's difficult time.

But earlier in the day, Harris said he and his wife "really broke down" as they arrived at the mortuary and saw their son, Kane County deputy sheriff Brian Harris, for the first time since he was shot and killed in the line of duty last week.

"We will never get over this, but we will get by it," Harris said.

Today, a community will lay its hero to rest with a funeral service held at Valley High School in Orderville.

Thursday, family members, friends and fellow law enforcers from across the state paid their respects to Harris at a viewing, remembering how the war veteran was well-respected by everyone in the community in part because of his generosity.

"We're really, really sad about it. He was a big part of our community," said Bob Souza, who lived three doors down from Harris in Mount Carmel.

"He really did his job well. No attitude. He never judged anyone," Chris Souza, Bob's wife, added.

There were signs of mourning all along U.S. 89 through the small towns of Glendale, Orderville, Mount Carmel and Kanab. American flags lined U.S. 89 through the entire town of Glendale. At Valley Elementary School in Orderville, one side of the marquee read, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Harris family" while the other side had the message, "Deputy Harris will remain in our hearts 4ever."

In front of another business, the message, "We *heart* the Harris's" was spelled out in plastic cups.

The Valley High baseball team lined the street leading up to the high school in Orderville.

Between 600 to 800 people attended the viewing. Harris' brother, Bert Harris, said it was a bittersweet day.

"It's nice to see how many people's lives Brian had affected," he said. "Everyone has a story about Brian, and most of them are very humorous. ...To see how many people were affected by him, it's overwhelming."

Last week, Brian Harris was chasing after burglary suspect Scott Curley, who fled from Kanab into neighboring Fredonia, Ariz. During the chase, Curley allegedly took cover behind a tree on a ridge, waited for Harris to come over the ridge and fired his assault rifle, killing Harris. Nearly 300 law enforcers from Utah and Arizona scoured the area around the Utah-Arizona border for four days searching for Curley, who was arrested early Monday.

Thursday, before the viewing for the slain deputy, Curley appeared in 6th District Court in Kanab and waived his extradition back to Arizona, where he is charged with first-degree murder.