A state trooper who was shot during the hunt for one of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted fugitives was a "hero in the very truest sense of the word," Gov. George Pataki said at the lawman's funeral Monday.
At the funeral, on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, several speakers placed Longobardo in the company of emergency responders who died in the attacks.
"In the wake of 9/11, I think all of us are more aware of the grave dangers all our public servants experience every time they don their uniform," said Bishop Howard Hubbard. "We have come together to mourn the passing of another fallen hero who was also a victim of a terrorist attack."