Slain Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton mourned by community and colleagues

Timothy Brenton was a modest man, the kind of guy who would shrug off praise by cracking a joke.

He also was an excellent police officer — intelligent, tough, dedicated — but a terrible driver, often driving the wrong direction while chasing down a suspect, according to the officers who knew him best.

Memories of Brenton flooded over a crowded KeyArena on Friday as thousands of law-enforcement officers and firefighters from across the state, along with others from Canada, California, Oregon and Idaho, paid tribute to the slain Seattle police officer.

Brenton, 39, "is a homegrown hero. He didn't set out to be a hero," said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Brenton's wife Lisa, Nickels said, "tells me that he would be a little chagrined at the fuss we're making today — chagrined but very proud."

Brenton and student officer Britt Sweeney, 33, were parked on 29th Avenue, north of East Yesler Way in the Leschi neighborhood just after 10 p.m. last Saturday when someone pulled up next to their patrol car and opened fire. Brenton was killed instantly and Sweeney suffered minor wounds.

She was able to get out of the car and fire at the vehicle, which backed up and sped away.

Just before the service ended, police shot a man in Tukwila suspected in the shooting.

"Sacred ceremonies"

The two-hour memorial service was marked by "the most sacred ceremonies of our profession," Deputy Police Chief Clark Kimerer told the audience. An honor guard, the playing of taps and a 21-gun salute were all incorporated into the event.

Interim Police Chief John Diaz presented Brenton's wife with an American flag that was unfolded before a small wooden box holding Brenton's remains. The flag was then refolded into a triangle.

Former Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, now the nation's drug czar, said Brenton "wanted to be a police officer since he was old enough to play cops and robbers." He followed his father and uncle into the Seattle department, Kerlikowske said, and eventually became a field-training officer.

In that role, Brenton was responsible for "shaping and molding new officers" and helping them apply their classroom experience to the streets.

Policing with humor

A former partner also recalled an officer with a keen sense of humor.

Once, Brenton and Officer Evan Ehring pulled over a stolen SUV. As Ehring was talking to the juvenile driver, Brenton reached into the vehicle and held up a handgun.

"He said, 'Uh oh, what's this?' " Ehring recalled. "The kid was freaking out, but then Tim said, 'Oh wait, this one's mine,' and he puts it back in his holster."

Another time, Ehring said, he saw Brenton, with a shotgun in hand, push a woman into a parking garage as police were looking for a shooting suspect.

When Ehring mentioned it later, Brenton denied he was protecting the woman: "He joked back and said, 'That lady was in my way and I was just trying to find cover.' "

The laughter gave way to tears as photographs of Brenton, wife Lisa and their two children, Kayleigh, 11, and Quinn, 8, were projected on a overhead screen. Brenton kissing his bride, petting a dolphin, making a snowman with his kids — all images of a loving family life destroyed by tragedy.

City honors officer

Before the memorial began, people lined a procession route that led from the University of Washington to KeyArena.

Hundreds of law-enforcement and firefighting vehicles, with emergency lights flashing, followed a vehicle carrying Brenton's family.

Brothers Logan and Parker Eugenio stood at attention in their Scout uniforms and solemnly saluted as the steady procession passed.

Logan, a 10-year-old Cub Scout, and Parker, 13, a Boy Scout, are the sons of veteran Seattle police Officer David Eugenio. They stood with their mother Candyce and hundreds of others along Montlake Boulevard on Friday morning to watch the stream of vehicles because they felt the "need to come down here and salute the officers," said Parker.

Wayne Reisenauer and his wife, Karen Helminger, rode bicycles from the Wallingford neighborhood to the UW to watch the procession.

"It was my wife's idea — a great one — to come down and honor a fallen police officer," he said.

Reisenauer, his eyes welling with tears, said police risk their lives every day so it's "the least I can do" to honor Brenton.

"It's important to show the community we care for them and honor them for their service," Helminger said.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report