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Hundreds of people lined Main Street Friday afternoon as the body of fallen Hopkinsville Police Officer Phillip Meacham was brought home.
An autopsy was performed at the Medical Examiner’s Office in Madisonville and law enforcement vehicles escorted and followed the hearse that brought Meacham from Madisonville to Hopkinsville, concluding at Lamb Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Christian County High School’s gymnasium and burial will follow in Ebenezer Baptist Church Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3 until 8 p.m. Tuesday at the gym.
There will be a candlelight vigil Saturday night at 7:30 at the Police Memorial Park beside HPD. It will be held at First Baptist Church in the event of rain.
Chief Clayton Sumner could not give any additional details on the shooting that took Meacham’s life, saying his focus is on the family, his officers and the community while Kentucky State Police is investigating.
He says the department is doing anything it can to help Officer Meacham’s wife, daughter and other family members during this time.
The loss has been felt across the region, especially in the law enforcement community, with multiple departments represented along the route and others offering their condolences in other ways.
While Officer Phillip Meacham spent the last 10 months with HPD, a vast majority of his law enforcement career was at the Christian County Sheriff’s Department.
Meacham was hired by former Sheriff Billy Gloyd to work court security in December, 2003 and graduated from the academy in 2005 and became a road deputy. He worked his way up to K9 handler and detective under Sheriff Livy Leavell and he resigned to take another job in January of 2015.
Sheriff Leavell says he’s had a longstanding relationship with Meacham and his family says he was a good deputy and a good friend to many.
Officer Meacham was fatally shot on Paulette Court Thursday afternoon and Sheriff Leavell says it’s a very tough time for everyone.
Sheriff Leavell and others placed flowers at Meacham’s cruiser parked in front of the Hopkinsville Police Department Friday morning. Anyone in the community is welcome to bring flowers or cards to the cruiser and a candlelight vigil will be scheduled in the near future.
HPD notes that the Officer Phillip Meacham Memorial Fund has been established at Planters Bank locations, where all donations will go directly to the family. Donations can also be mailed to PO Box 1570, Hopkinsville, Ky. 42241.
