Mourners gather for funeral of slain Chicago Officer Andrés Mauricio Vásquez Lasso

A casket bearing the body of Chicago Police Officer Andrés Mauricio Vásquez Lasso was solemnly escorted down the aisle of St. Rita of Cascia Church by eight fellow officers as his funeral got underway Thursday morning, a week after he was shot and killed while on duty.

As Vásquez Lasso’s wife and family took their seats inside the church at 7740 S. Western Ave., Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Supt. David Brown walked up a side aisle.

Thousands of cops lined Western Avenue and gathered near St. Rita as a procession of vehicles transported Vasquez Lasso’s body from Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn.

The motorcade was met by an American flag hung from a pair of fire engines and a group of bagpipers who played as the slain officer was brought inside. Outside the packed church, scores of officials from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies stood at attention.

The funeral was at the same church where services were held for Chicago Officer Ella French after she was shot and killed in August of 2021. She was the last Chicago police officer to be killed in the line of duty before Vásquez Lasso.

At his wake on Wednesday, people paid their respects at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home in Oak Lawn. They included Gov. J.B. Pritzker; Lightfoot and her wife, Amy Eshleman, and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza.

Vásquez Lasso, 32, was on the force for nearly 5 years. He was killed in a confrontation March 1 after responding to a domestic violence call in the 5200 block of South Spaulding Avenue.

Steven Montano, 18, ran from a house toward a playground adjacent to Sawyer Elementary School when authorities allege he suddenly turned and exchanged gunfire with Vásquez Lasso.

The officer was struck multiple times and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died. Montano was arrested and remains held without bail.

After the funeral mass, there will be a procession to a crematorium near Roosevelt Road and Des Plaines Avenue.