Hometown honors cop killed on her first day on the job

MERRIMACK, N.H. — A New England native killed in the line of duty is being remembered by her hometown.

HONORING A FALLEN OFFICER

Officer Ashley Guindon, a 29-year-old Merrimack native, was shot and killed Saturday while responding to a call during her first shift with a police department in northern Virginia.

"Words cannot begin to describe how the Merrimack Police Department feels today," the department wrote on Facebook Sunday. "As many of you know Ashley Guindon, who grew up in Merrimack, was shot and killed by a coward."

Merrimack police went on to write that the department "will be there to honor Ashley, no matter where it takes us."

Guindon graduated from Merrimack High School in 2005. On Monday, the high school will remember her with a moment of silence as the whole community mourns her loss.

"Ashley wrote in her MHS yearbook, 'Live for something rather than die for nothing,'" the Merrimack Police Department wrote. "Ashley, you have set an example for us to follow, may you rest in peace, we will take it from here."

The Merrimack High School's principal also shared some thoughts upon learning of Guindon's death.

"At MHS we live by the motto believe, go forward and inspire. We believe that Ashley not only embraced our motto, she personified it," the principal wrote in a statement.

Guindon served in the military before becoming a police officer. Her uncle is a detective with the West Springfield, Massachusetts, Police Department.

Sadly, this isn't the first loss for her family. In her high school year book, Guindon referred to her father in heaven. Air National Guard staff Sgt. David Guindon took his own life after returning from Iraq in 2004.

SUSPECT DUE IN COURT

The man accused of killing Guindon, Ronald Hamilton, is due in court Monday.

Hamilton is a staff sergeant in the army who worked at the Pentagon. Police say Hamilton killed his wife Saturday and then shot down Guindon and two other officers who arrived at the scene. The other officers remain hospitalized.

Police say Hamilton's 11-year-old son was home at the time of the shooting, but he was not hurt.

Hamilton was charged with capital murder and could face the death penalty.

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