Thousands turn out for Iowa deputy?s funeral Saturday

SIGOURNEY (AP) ? Thousands of people gathered Saturday to mourn a sheriff?s deputy shot during a standoff in southeast Iowa.

Mourners packed the gymnasium and two overflow rooms at Sigourney High School for the funeral of 39-year-old Eric Stein of Sigourney. About 7,000 people, including law-enforcement officers from across the U.S., were estimated to be in attendance, the Des Moines Register reported.

?It upsets me,? said Deborah Dugger, 56, who watched from the town?s fire department as the hearse carrying Stein?s body passed by. ?I?ve lived here all my life, so I?ve known him since he was little. It?s just a sad situation.?

Stein, a Keokuk County sheriff?s deputy from What Cheer, was killed April 4 when he and two other officers went to 53-year-old Jeffrey Krier?s home. Authorities have said Krier opened fire, killing Stein. Krier was shot and killed by state police during a three-hour standoff.

Sheriff Jeff Shipley was among the officers who witnessed Stein?s death. ?To people there that day: You did everything you could. Your response was nothing short of completely heroic,? he said Saturday.

Stein had been with the sheriff?s office since July 2000. He is survived by his fiance Keri Wyatt. She called him a ?down-home country boy.?

?He never expected anything from anyone but was always the first to help,? she said.

The last officer shot and killed in the line of duty in Iowa was Daniel M. McPherren Sr. of the Newton Police Department. He was shot during a robbery at a grocery store in 1985.

Stein was the 157th Iowa peace officer since 1869 to die in the line of duty, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety website. The previous officer on the list is Des Moines Police Officer Sean Wissink, who was killed in a one-car accident in 2007.

?You don?t expect this to happen anywhere, but to happen in a small southeast Iowa county is even worse yet,? Jefferson County Chief Deputy Gregg Morton told the Cedar Rapid Gazette. ?It?s not something we?re prepared for ? not something we?re ready for.?

The Iowa governor ordered all flags in the state be flown at half-staff this weekend in Stein?s honor.