Just two hours before he was gunned down by a glory-seeking thug, Jersey City police officer Melvin Santiago was photographed at the scene of a shooting, searching the ground for spent gun shells.
As he surveyed the roped-off scene, the rookie officer, who had been on the job for only seven months, had no way of knowing that the city’s next act of violence would take his own life.
“We’ve got to do something about all the guns out there,” former Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said outside Santiago’s wake Thursday.
“And I know that every official I know is always trying to do that, and all we can do right now is to pray for him and for his family and get through this horrible, horrible time.”
Current Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop was planning to posthumously promote Santiago to detective during an evening ceremony at the McLaughlin Funeral Home, where mourners crowded to say their goodbyes.
Outside, an Army of police officers descended to pay their respects — and to watch each others back.
Emergency service cops in full battle gear holding automatic weapons greeted friends and the family of Santiago, 23, who was killed while responding to reports of an armed robbery.
Santiago, who was shot in the head, was ambushed early Sunday morning in a drug store parking lot by Lawrence Campbell, a glory-seeking thug who stole a security guard’s gun before telling witnesses to watch the news.
Campbell was shot dead by police after killing Santiago, triggering a revenge threat from gang members that has cops on alert.
Cops from as far as Washington DC came to the Jersey City’s McLaughlin Funeral Home to pay their respects.
Santiago’s funeral is scheduled for Friday morning at the St. Aloysius Catholic Church.