Officer Jamal Mitchell’s coffin arrives at the memorial service

10:01 am A procession of mounted police officers, assisted by the MPD and the Law Enforcement Memorial Association, is now escorting the artillery wagon carrying Mitchell’s flag-draped casket to the high school.

9:51 am Dozens of American flags flew outside the high school. Most flew at half-mast. Mark Lea stood on his motorcycle near the school entrance alongside members of the Minnesota Patriot Guard. Lea is the Guard’s highest-ranking operations officer. He said they attended Tuesday’s service to show “honor, dignity and respect for fallen officers.”

9:28 am A phalanx of Ramsey County deputies marched in, soon followed by Minneapolis city officials: Mayor Jacob Frey and his wife Sarah arrived in a black SUV, followed by City Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Attorney General Keith Ellison had also arrived.

9:12 am A line of buses began dropping off mourners at Maple Grove Senior High School under overcast skies. A Minneapolis city spokesman said he did not know how many people would attend the memorial service, but the venue has room for 5,000 people. Several members of the Patriot Guard stood at the school’s entrance with American flags, in front of a flag flying at half-mast at the door.

9:07 am The funeral program lists Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, police officer and friend Luke Weatherspoon and his friend Chris Dunker as Mitchell’s eulogists. Mitchell’s aunt Denise Raper will read from the Scriptures and Rev. Mike Emmert will deliver the opening and closing prayers.

The cover of the program features a photo of Mitchell with his family: partner Tori Myslajek and their children Koen, Jalen, Kaden and Macen. A brief obituary read: “Jamal saw life as an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. He was a proud Minneapolis police officer. He was a devoted father and loved to share his love of basketball with others.”

8:15 o’clock This morning, final preparations are being made in Maple Grove for a memorial service for Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell, who was killed by gunfire late last month.

The public service for Mitchell in the Maple Grove High School gymnasium is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and last about two hours, organizers said. Seating for the public will begin at 9 a.m.

The memorial service can also be viewed on KSTP-TV, Channel 5’s YouTube page:

Hours before the service, a convoy of Minneapolis police officers presented a grim picture as it pulled off the highway in the rain and headed toward the high school.

After the service, an honor ceremony is held in front of the school, with police officers from across the state and country lining up in formation and military jets conducting a flyover.

According to his public schedule, Governor Tim Walz will also be in attendance. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is also among the dignitaries who will attend the service.

Shortly after 2 p.m., Mitchell’s body will be carried in a funeral procession from the high school at 9800 Fernbrook Lane N. to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport before he can return to his native Connecticut, organizers said.

The more than 30-mile route of the procession begins in Mitchell’s hometown and runs mostly along two major Twin Cities freeways, allowing for viewing from several overpasses. It travels south along Interstate 494, then east on Highway 62 before reaching the airport. Motorists should expect the freeway to be closed at times during the procession.

Police in New Haven, Connecticut, said Tuesday that Mitchell’s body was expected to arrive at Bradley Airport in the state capital of Hartford late Wednesday afternoon.

Deputies from the Connecticut State Police and the New Haven Police Department will meet Mitchell’s family at the airport and escort them to the McClam Funeral Home in New Haven, said Officer Christian Bruckhart, spokesman for the New Haven police.

Mitchell’s funeral is planned for Monday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center at Hillhouse High School, Bruckhart said. The viewing is scheduled for 9 to 11 a.m., with the service to follow immediately afterward, the spokesman said. Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven, police said.

In addition to Mitchell, three other people were killed in consecutive shootings along a two-block stretch of South Blaisdell Avenue late in the afternoon of May 30. Among the dead is Mustafa Ahmed Mohamed, 35, of Eden Prairie, who state investigators say shot Mitchell at close range in the 2100 block of Blaisdell Avenue after the police officer asked him if he needed help.

Initial police evidence suggested that Mohamed was the gunman who killed two people in an apartment shortly before he was shot by two police officers.

Star Tribune staff writer Greta Kaul contributed to this article.