Ceres and Hughson officials were among those who helped to honor the life of Newman Police Department Cpl. Ronil Singh, 33, who was killed in the line of duty on Dec. 26.

Singh, 33, was shot and killed during a traffic stop he made at 12:57 a.m. at Merced Street and Eucalyptus Avenue in Newman. Moments later he called out “shots fired” over the radio which sent multiple police scurrying to the scene. However, Singh was found at the scene mortally wounded with gunshot wounds and the suspect was gone. Singh, a resident of northeast Modesto, was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

On Friday Singh’s body was taken from Salas Brothers Funeral Chapel to the West Side Theater in Newman where the community he served expressed its grief and sorrow as it filed past the coffin.

Singh’s funeral service was held at CrossPoint Community Church at 1301 12th Street in Modesto. An estimated 4,000 law enforcement from over 100 agencies and members of the public attended.

An Honor Guard funeral procession made its way to Lakewood Memorial Park near Hughson where he was laid to rest near a monument engraved with the names of fallen Stanislaus County officers since the 1930s. Hughson firefighters attended the Lakewood service, which included a 21-gun salute. Cpl. Singh’s canine, was led in a walk behind the hearse to the funeral site.

Starting Friday evening approximately 50 members of both the Ceres and Hughson Lions Club gathered at the rural Ceres property of Barbara Barbour to prepare the cooking of 500 pounds of tri-tip beef and 60 gallons of beans to be served for 2,500 law enforcement and mourners at Saturday’s funeral in Modesto. The club started barbecuing at 4:30 a.m. Saturday.

“It was quite an honor,” said Ceres Lions Club member Ken Lane. “We’ve done them all lately, unfortunately, for those killed in active duty.”

Cpl. Singh was a native of Fiji and has been employed by Newman Police Department since July 2011. He had been a canine officer specializing in narcotics enforcement.