Manchester Mourns Death of Police Officer Michael Briggs

listen:

Track 1: Flags at half staff…makeshift memorials…banners with prayers written on them hanging from homes and store windows; these all visible signs of a city in mourning.

Manchester residents are grieving the death of 35-year old Police Officer Michael Briggs – shot and killed while responding to a domestic abuse call on the city’s east side.

One business on Chestnut Street, near the police station, has a sign in the window that reads, “Prayers for Officer Briggs.”

Further north on Pine Street, a huge white sheet with blue lettering has been hoisted on a triple decker, with the words: Godspeed Brother Michael Briggs; you will not be forgotten.”

But on the east side – near the site of the crime – people are coming to pay respects in whatever way they choose:

Ambi: “So you gotta say I’m sorry, and he had little kids, that’s why you put your flowers out and you told him thank you for doing his job…” :08

From a nearby neighborhood, Melissa Tuttle stops at one of the memorials…and tries to explain the tragedy to her three-year-old daughter, April. But she says it’s difficult:

“I think it’d be good to teach her what happened…not what happened, but you know, police officers and stuff like that. So we got her some flowers and she put them out, and…just to realize what kind of people are out there in the world.” :12

Daigle Standup: The sun is shining one day after Officer Briggs was gunned down here at the corner of Lincoln Street and Litchfield Ave. But the mood is decidedly somber, as a steady stream of mourners stops at two makeshift memorials – to leave flowers, candles, stuffed animals and other mementos…or just to say a prayer for the officer who paid the ultimate price for just doing his job.” :24

(bring up a bit of ambi here…”this is for people who want to say ‘I’m sorry.’”

Cheryl Mitchell lives next to the alley where Briggs was killed.

She her son and granddaughter set up the memorials with two big umbrellas:

“My 26-year-old son came downstairs and said, ‘Mom, I need to do something…and took out our umbrellas and put ‘em out. Ahhh…my granddaughter came down from her dad’s house, and left a book, so that people could sign.” :14

Mitchell knew Officer Briggs only casually - often smiling and waving at him as he made his regular bicycle rounds.

But she says, when a cop is killed right in your own backyard, it’s an unspeakable tragedy:

“I’ve lived here for almost 20 years, and I’ve seen the police officers ride by my house, and you know, you feel that sense of protection.” :08

Mitchell’s neighbor, April Provencher, echoes that sentiment:

“I think that everybody mourns…because he’s a hero. In everybody’s eyes. They fight for our justice and our lives…and to see one of them being taken. It’s…our protectors. That’s their job. He goes to work like everybody else…and…he lost his life going to work, and that’s a horrible, horrible thought.” :18

And she says this tragedy has made her think seriously of moving out of the neighborhood:

“…the swat teams walking around the streets in the middle of the day the other day…was just a shock. My son was in school, his school was in lockdown. That doesn’t need to happen.” :08

(bring up a bit of ambi sound here, as we get back to the memorial…)

A couple of police officers also visited the memorial, and talked with some of the neighbors about the murder.

But they were unable to comment for this report because, they said, as their eyes welled up with tears, “It’s too soon to talk about him yet. Just too soon.”

SOQ