Hundreds gather to mourn slain Sterling Heights officer
Family, friends console wife, child; suspect at large
By Edward L. Cardenas / The Detroit News
Todd McInturf / The Detroit News
Several hundred police cars and motorcycles led the funeral processional on Big Beaver. During the service, Mark Sawyers' badge number, 76, was retired.
STERLING HEIGHTS — Hundreds of police officers from across the United States and Canada formed a sea of blue at the funeral of slain Officer Mark Sawyers on Wednesday, as investigators worked to establish a motive in his execution-style slaying.
Evidence suggests suspect Timothy William Berner may have been stalking police shortly before he killed Sawyers, Sterling Heights Police Chief Barnett Jones said.
Video from an ATM camera in the Sterling Heights parking lot where Sawyers was shot showed Berner following another police car prior to the killing, Jones said. That officer apparently was unaware he was being followed and did not stop, Jones said.
Jones said police believe Berner was after Sawyers’ handgun when he shot the officer through the window of his cruiser Friday as Sawyers sat writing a report. Sawyers’ gun was missing after the killing.
“(Berner) needed to upgrade from a long gun to a handgun. He went shopping that day,” Jones said.
Berner and Sawyers, 30, of Warren may have worked together at a local restaurant, according to Jones, but there is no evidence they knew each other or had any recent contact.
Jones said Berner is a former Marine who served during Desert Storm and was dishonorably discharged for robbery and assault in North Carolina. Jones also said Berner was involved in bank robberies in the Lansing and Brighton areas in March and April.
Federal marshals and the FBI have joined in the search for Berner, Jones said. A $25,000 reward is being offered in the case, which is being profiled on the national TV show “America’s Most Wanted” at 9 p.m. Saturday.
Earlier Wednesday, mourners crowded into Bethesda Christian Church in Sterling Heights to console Sawyers’ young wife and 11-month-old daughter, and to support the nearly 200 grieving Sterling Heights officers.
“We consider ourselves a family, and we all lost a member of the family,” Mayor Richard Notte said. “He took an oath to protect our community and lost his life. He paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
About 2,700 federal, state and local law enforcement officers and community members joined the Sawyers family for the funeral and the burial that followed in White Chapel Cemetery in Troy.
Sawyers’ badge number, 76, was retired and his police cruiser will be removed permanently from service.
Sawyers was eulogized as a loving family man who cared deeply for his young daughter, Lily, and wife, Yvonne. He was remembered as a tough competitor on the softball diamond and at the card table, and as a dedicated member of the police department.
“He served because he had a passion and a concern and a caring nature to help his fellow man and woman,” Jones said. “Mark will always be remembered as a good cop.”
