ELWOOD, Ind. — The city of Elwood is preparing for Saturday’s procession and funeral with many planning to honor the life of Officer Noah Shahnavaz, who was killed in the line of duty last weekend.
For those who can’t attend, Dunnichay Funeral Home found another way for people to pay their respects.
The local funeral home placed register books around town for people to sign.
“We felt like this was the least we could do, is give people here in this community a chance to sign this register book and pay tribute to Noah,” said Ned Dunnichay.
So far, hundreds of people have signed the books. One is placed outside the funeral home off Anderson Street and another is by the memorial outside the city building.
“We ordered extra pages for the books, and they keep filling them up,” Dunnichay said.
It’s a sign of the impact Shahnavaz left on the city of Elwood in the 11 months since he joined the police department.
“From what I hear from everybody, he was one heck of a man. They are going to miss him here in this town,” said Glen Johnson, who traveled from Tipton to sign the book.
The Indiana Patriot Guard also honored the fallen officer by placing nearly 500 American flags along the procession route in Elwood.
“With Noah being a line of duty death, we can never give him the thanks that he deserves or the honor to be shown. So when the city reached out to us about putting up some American flags, we told them that we would be honored to do so,” said John Petro, state captain for the Indiana Patriot Guard.
You can sign the register books until Saturday afternoon. After that, they will go to the family.