PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Family, friends, and hundreds of fellow law enforcement officers gathered Friday to say goodbye to a Florida wildlife investigator who was killed in a wrong-way crash in St. Lucie County last week.
The funeral service for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission senior investigator Kyle Patterson, 35, took place at Christ Fellowship Church in Port St. Lucie.
An Honor Guard ceremony immediately followed the service, with law enforcement officers playing bagpipes and waving large American flags.
WATCH HONOR GUARD CEREMONY:
Following the ceremony, an official with the FWC presented an American flag — which had been draped over Patterson's casket — to his family. Patterson is survived by his wife and two young children.
Later on Friday, Patterson's body will be escorted from Port St. Lucie to his hometown of Christmas in Central Florida, where he'll be laid to rest.
Hundreds of law enforcement officials from across the state attended the emotional service.
Several @browardsheriff motorcycle units have made their way to Fort Pierce to travel in the procession for @MyFWC senior investigator Kyle Patterson. More officers and deputies expected to show @WPTV pic.twitter.com/tgiMN34HVR
— Derek Lowe WPTV (@DerekLoweNews) June 17, 2022
The Florida Highway Patrol said a 24-year-old woman from Tampa was driving a Kia sedan the wrong way — eastbound in the westbound lanes of Okeechobee Road — and collided head-on with Patterson's unmarked Ford pickup truck on June 9.
Patterson was flown to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Just hours before Patterson's funeral on Friday, WPTV Chopper 5 flew over the procession as it made its way from the funeral home to Christ Fellowship Church.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis directed flags to be flown at half-staff Friday in honor of Patterson.
