MIAMI (WSVN) - Days after a Customs and Border Patrol Officer’s life was cut short after an incident at a shooting range, a procession was held to the funeral home to begin his internment.
A line of law enforcement agents was seen, along with the family and friends of Jorge Arias, on Friday afternoon honoring Jorge Arias in a funeral procession from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office to a funeral home in Little Havana.
Some mourners were seen saluting, and others placed their right hand over their heart as Arias’ body was taken away in a hearse.
“He was a great officer. He was a good person,” said a CBP officer. “There’s nothing we can say. I mean, there’s no words to compare to that.”
“He’s getting a hero’s ceremony, and that’s exactly what he deserved,” said Arias’ widow, Ana Mary Arias
Thursday evening, Miami-Dade Police confirmed a second officer was involved in the shooting that killed the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer.
Ana Mary spoke to 7News Thursday, a day after the tragic event.
“You’re gonna hear that he was a great guy, and I know that we say that about everyone that leaves us, but he was a great guy,” she said. “He was a great father to my children, and he was my soulmate, and I have lost my person.”
The heartbreak doesn’t get easier for the widow of 40-year-old Arias.
He was also an instructor at the Trail Glades Shooting Range in West Miami-Dade where he was fatally shot during a training exercise.
“My husband was very passionate about the work that he did,” recalled Ana Mary.
It was at the shooting range where her husband was shot in the chest at around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Miami Herald reported it happened during a role-playing scenario to subdue a bad guy and the agent who shot Arias accidentally replaced his training pistol with a handgun loaded with live ammunition.
How that happened is still unclear.
Arias was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center, but would not make it.
Just hours after the shooting, an emotional procession to the medical examiner’s office was held.
Law enforcement from across South Florida walked through the rain to honor the fallen officer.
“That meant so much to me,” said his widow. “I did not anticipate that, and he is getting a hero’s ceremony, and that’s exactly what he deserved.”
Funeral services for Arias will be held next week.
“I’m sure that his brothers in blue and everybody will miss him, and I am very proud of his service, and so was he,” said Ana Mary.
An investigation to determine exactly how this tragic gun mix-up happened is underway.
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