Slain soldier riding Highway of Heroes to Hamilton today
Posted Oct 24, 2014 11:12 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The body of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, gunned down in Ottawa this week, is being returned to his hometown of Hamilton via the Highway of Heroes on Friday.
The motorcade began in Ottawa at 1 p.m., with Ottawa police providing the escort to Highway 416, where the OPP’s Golden Helmets will assume control of the escort at Bankfield Road and head south onto Highway 401.
The OPP escort is travelling west on Highway 401 until heading north on Highway 404. The escort will continue westbound onto the Queen Elizabeth Way before taking the Red Hill Valley Parkway exit, and then turning west onto King Street in Hamilton. The arrival time is estimated to be between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The visitations will be held at Markey-Dermody Funeral Home in Hamilton on Sunday, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and on Monday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. They will be open to the public, the funeral home says. The funeral will held at Christ’s Church Cathedral at 252 James Street North in Hamilton at noon on Tuesday; however, it’s not yet known if it will be open to the public.
Cirillo, a reservist from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, is expected to be given a full regimental funeral.
The 24-year-old was shot dead as he and a colleague stood guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Wednesday. The gunman was killed after he burst into the Centre Block on Parliament Hill.
This is what the first honour guards at the National War Memorial saw just minutes into their post on Friday:
