POMPANO BEACH — Hundreds of Broward Sheriff's deputies and their law enforcement brethren took a brief respite Tuesday from the intense manhunt for a cop killer to pay their respects to Sgt. Chris Reyka and his family.
Funeral visitation was held in the afternoon at the Forest Lawn North Funeral Home and continued through the evening.
Others came from throughout South Florida to honor a man they never met but whose death brought them to tears and renewed their respect for the sacrifices made daily by law enforcement officers.
Sharon Winters, of Deerfield Beach, was among that group. "These kind of people give everything without asking for much or anything in return," she said of the police. "That's hard to remember when you're getting pulled over for a ticket, or if you live like the animals who killed this fine man."
Reyka, 51, of Wellington, was shot to death early Friday in the parking lot of a Pompano Beach Walgreen's, where he was checking license plates to see if the tags or the parked cars were stolen. There is a $106,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Reyka's killer.
The shooting was the second in less than a week that left a Broward County deputy dead or wounded. Deputy Maury Hernandez, 28, was shot in the head in Pembroke Park on Aug. 6 and remained in critical condition Tuesday.
The support from people like Winters and members of law enforcement who visited the funeral home, including Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne, left Reyka's distraught family feeling overwhelmingly proud and secure.
"This shows how appreciative everyone is," Ashley Reyka, 21, said smiling, referring to her father's involvement in the community, not just his 18 years as a lawman but also as a Boy Scout master and active church member.
Deputies and others who knew Chris Reyka shared stories with the family about things he had done, incidents that were comical and others that were touching.