Killed Kane County deputy Brian Harris laid to rest in Glendale

ORDERVILLE, Kane County — A community said goodbye to its hero Friday.

Kane County sheriff's deputy Brian Harris, shot and killed in the line of duty Aug. 26 while pursuing a burglary suspect, was laid to rest in the small Kane County town of Glendale.

More than 2,000 people packed the gymnasium of Valley High School in Orderville for Harris' funeral service. A couple hundred other people listened to an audio and video feed of the ceremony from adjacent auditoriums and even in the neighboring LDS Church meetinghouses in Orderville and Glendale.

The most emotional part of Friday's two-hour funeral service came when Harris' widow, Shawna, and his two daughters, Kirstyn, 13, and Kristina, 10, spoke publicly for the first time since their father's death, expressing their gratitude to the law enforcement community and everyone who had supported them over the past week.

"My dad was really great. I always looked up to him. He was my hero," Kirstyn Harris said while wiping away tears. "Every morning, I would tell him I loved him, and I never knew what would happen — I never thought this would happen. I thought nothing could happen in such a small community. I was wrong. I hate being wrong."

The Harris' LDS bishop, Eric Esplin, said some of the toughest questions he's had to answer over the past week were from Brian Harris' daughters: "Who will take me to daddy-daughter day at school? Did Heavenly Father really need my dad more than us? Who will drive my dad's derby car?"

Shawna Harris said it was extremely hard for her to stand and speak on Friday, but she felt compelled to tell everyone in the audience how much she loved them, especially law enforcement.

"Your call of duty is above and beyond what it should be, and we thank you for it," she said. "All officers who put their lives on hold for four days while looking for the man who caused all this, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

"Brian left a hole in this community. This hole in our hearts will forever remain empty. There is no one out there who can replace him."