Fallen PWC Officer Ashley Guindon going home. Massive turn out for her funeral. EOW: 2/27/2016 @WTOP pic.twitter.com/TTplkRKfYU
— Kathy Stewart (@KStewartWTOP) March 1, 2016
Bagpipes to honor Officer Ashley Guindon @wtop #service #police pic.twitter.com/eoFQ7PnRRo
— Jamie Forzato (@jamieforzato) March 1, 2016
#Honor guard at fallen @PWCPoliceDept officer Ashley Guindon's funeral service. #service @WTOP #police pic.twitter.com/wLpTCOctjE
— Jamie Forzato (@jamieforzato) March 1, 2016
WASHINGTON — Funeral services were held Tuesday for Prince William County Officer Ashley Guindon, who was killed Saturday, her first day on the job, as she responded to a domestic disturbance.
The funeral began at noon at the Hylton Memorial Chapel, in Woodbridge, Virginia, after a two-hour public viewing. Thousands of people, including officers from all over the area, encircled the chapel for the viewing. They wore black bands across their badges as a sign of mourning. Bagpipes played as officers saluted the hearse carrying Guindon’s body as it pulled up to the church. Some had tears in their eyes.
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” Father Gerard Creedon said to family, friends and a sea of uniformed officers during the funeral service. Creedon said that he hoped the loss felt in Guindon’s “unconscionable dismissal from this life” might signal an end to the violence.
Guindon, who was known as a “fashionista,” grew up in Merrimack, New Hampshire, where she was a cheerleader and was a member of the Jr. Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. She was the only daughter of Sharon Nowack Guindon and the late David Guindon. In 2007, Guindon enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, where she was a field radio operator. In 2011, she graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a degree in aeronautical sciences.
Guindon came to Virginia in order to pursue graduate studies, working as an intern for the Prince William County Police Department’s forensics bureau in that time. She graduated from the Prince William Criminal Justice Academy in 2015 but left before completing the field training program for personal reasons, police say.
She was rehired in February 2016 and began her training on Saturday — the night she was fatally shot. Guindon was 28.
“She accomplished more in 28 years than I could in 100,” Prince William County Police Chief Stephan M. Hudson said during the service.
Hudson said Guindon dedicated her life to others — up to the very end. “That’s exactly what she did,” Hudson said.
On that fateful night, officers arrived at the Woodbridge home of Ron and Crystal Hamilton in response to a domestic incident. Crystal Hamilton called 911 but was found shot to death in a bedroom by the time police got there.
When police arrived at the home, Ronald Hamilton met them at the door with a rifle. He shot the three officers, wounding two and fatally killing Guindon, according to an affidavit filed in court Monday.
The couple’s 11-year-old son was in the home at the time, but was unharmed.
A vigil for Crystal Hamilton is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday in front of the family’s home, at 13051 Lashmere Court in Woodbridge.
Ronald Hamilton, a 32-year-old Army staff sergeant, has been charged with capital murder in Guindon’s death and first-degree murder for his wife’s death. Police say he admitted to shooting his wife and the three officers who arrived.
How to donate
The Prince William County Police Association has created an account for anyone that wishes to donate money to the family in Guindon’s memory. The association will send all money raised directly to Ashley’s mother.
Make checks payable to “PWCPA in memory of OFC Ashley Guindon.” You can stop by any police station with a donation, or mail it directly to the Police Association:
Prince William County Police Association
Officer Guindon Memorial Fund
P.O. Box 1845
Manassas, VA 20108
The Associated Press and WTOP’s Jamie Forzato contributed to this report.
