Arvada Police Officer Gordon Beesley laid to rest

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LAFAYETTE, Colo. — The funeral service for Arvada Police Officer Gordon Beesley was held Tuesday, June 29, at Flatirons Community Church in Lafayette.

The service starts at 10 a.m. and can be streamed here.

Beesley, a 19-year veteran of the Arvada Police Department, died when a gunman opened fire June 21 in Olde Town Arvada. Beesley was a school resource officer at Oberon Middle School but was out on patrol for the summer.

During the service, Arvada Police Chief Link Strate talked about what made Beesley special.

"He had a fundamental goodness to him that is all to rare," Strate said. "His goodness stood out from the rest so significantly, that you would stop and ask, 'Why aren't more people like Gordon?'" 

The stage in the church was adorned with items reflecting Beesley's interests and hobbies, including a drum set. Beesley was a member of the department's drum and bugle corps, Strate said.

"Quite frankly, he looked remarkable good in a kilt," Strate added. The audience laughed.

The suspected shooter has been identified as 59-year-old Ronald Troyke. The day of the shooting, police said Troyke targeted Beesley due to the fact that Beesley was a police officer, but didn’t elaborate. However, on June 25, investigators released excerpts from a document allegedly penned by Troyke that showed his intentions to kill police officers. According to police, the document said things like, “Today I will kill as many Arvada officers as I possibly can” and “I just hope I don’t die without killing any of you pigs.” 

Troyke was shot and killed by John Hurley, an armed civilian police described as a "Good Samaritan." The situation took an even more tragic turn when a responding officer arrived to the scene of the shooting and shot and killed Hurley, who had picked up Troyke's AR-15. You can read more about that part of the investigation here.

Beesley's funeral takes place almost exactly three months since the funeral of Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley, who died in the March 22 King Soopers shooting. Talley's funeral was also at Flatirons Church.

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