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NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of additional mourners are expected this evening to join the colleagues and family members of a New York City police officer who was killed along with his partner in an ambush last weekend.
The crowd is expected to spill into the streets outside a church in Queens to hear speakers eulogize Officer Rafael Ramos.
Friends and colleagues today are describing him as selfless, compassionate and heroic.
The officer's wife and two sons were joined at the wake today by hundreds of uniformed officers. Dozens of them saluted as his flag-draped casket was carried into the church.
A police captain said Ramos had been studying to be a pastor, and that he had Bible study books in his locker.
Ramos' funeral is scheduled for tomorrow. Vice President Joe Biden is expected to attend, along with Mayor Bill de Blasio. Police union officials have criticized de Blasio, saying he contributed to a climate of mistrusting police that set the stage for the killings. But de Blasio has stood solidly behind the department since the Dec. 20 slayings of Ramos and Officer Wenjian Liu (loo) as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter later killed himself.
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145-a-13-(Jessica Klett, Queens resident, attended wake of slain NYPD Officer Raphael Ramos (RAH'-mohs), in AP interview)-"we do that"-Jessica Klett, who went to the wake for Officer Raphael Ramos, says she was heartened by the large turnout for the wake. (26 Dec 2014)
<<CUT *145 (12/26/14)££ 00:13 "we do that"
144-a-09-(Jessica Klett, Queens resident, attended wake of slain NYPD Officer Raphael Ramos (RAH'-mohs), in AP interview)-"for the NYPD"-Jessica Klett, who went to the wake for Officer Raphael Ramos, says she felt it was important to be there. (26 Dec 2014)
<<CUT *144 (12/26/14)££ 00:09 "for the NYPD"
APPHOTO NYJM116: New York Police Department officers stand guard at the wake of officer Rafael Ramos at Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was a longstanding and deeply committed member, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (26 Dec 2014)
<<APPHOTO NYJM116 (12/26/14)££
APPHOTO NYJM114: New York Police Department officers arrive at the wake of officer Rafael Ramos at Christ Tabernacle Church, in the Glendale section of Queens, where he was a longstanding and deeply committed member, Friday, Dec. 26, 2014, in New York. Ramos was killed Dec. 20 along with his partner, Officer Wenjian Liu, as they sat in their patrol car on a Brooklyn street. The shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, later killed himself. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (26 Dec 2014)
<<APPHOTO NYJM114 (12/26/14)££
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