Collection of Articles about Police Officers Killed by Semi- Automatic ...

It wasn't necessarily the big things - although Chief Gurr was a no non-sense type of
officer who came down hard on crime, especially drug use - that endeared Gurr to
Johnson. More so, it was the small and gentle things the chief did on a day-to-day basis
that made Johnson vow to become just like his mentor.
"Chief Gurr truly cared about people," Johnson stated. "On the very day he died, the
chief was at a public place talking with a group of people when he saw an elderly
gentleman groping for a banister leading up a set of stairs. Chief Gurr stopped what he
was doing and quietly walked over to the man. He gently took the man's hand into his
own and placed it on the bannister."
Johnson remembers that Gurr would often stop and help people who were having car
trouble. "He'd help change a flat tire for someone on the side of the road," Johnson said.
"Cecil was the chief of police, yet in his heart he was nothing more than a public
servant."
When Johnson first started in law work, his aspiration was to become a detective. After
working for Gurr, Johnson set his sights even higher.
"I wanted to be a chief of police," Johnson stated. "I wanted to be just like Gurr."
Johnson has been Grantsville's chief of police since 1993. "When I was promoted to that
position, the first person I called was Chief Gurr," Johnson said. "I asked for his help and
advice then, and I've called him many times since to ask for advice."
It's been a while since Johnson last saw Gurr. But as he arrived in Roosevelt Monday to
pay his last respects, Johnson was still treated as part of the family.
"Cecil's wife and children hugged me and said they were so glad I had come," Johnson
stated. "J.C. Hansen, the only Roosevelt officer still on the force from when I was there,
introduced me to the rest of the department. I felt like I had gone home. I still felt like
part of the family."
Chief Johnson, like all the rest of the visiting law enforcement officials in Roosevelt this
week, wore his uniform the day of Gurr's funeral. Across the officers' badges were strips
of black tape, signifying their state of mourning.
Johnson said the entire town of Roosevelt shut down during Gurr's funeral. As the
funeral procession wound its way through the city, hundreds of people lined the streets.
"Most of them held their hands over their hearts as the hearse passed by," Johnson said.
"Some of the men saluted. Children were waving flags and many people held up signs
expressing their love for their chief."
Johnson described the day of the funeral as "a hot, summer day. But as we got out to
the cemetery, the clouds started rolling in. After the UHP Honor Guard presented the 21gun
salute, a trooper played 'Taps' on a trumpet."
Just as the last note from the trumpet resounded through the air, "lightning struck close
by," Johnson said. "Then there was loud thunder."
The U.S. flag that had draped Chief Gurr's casket was folded and presented to his
widow. Then, "no more than 10 seconds later, there was a downpour of rain," Johnson
said. "It was almost as if the heavens were weeping over the loss of an officer."