Funerals begin for Boston bombing victims

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (C), law enforcement officers and officials salute near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Boylston Street during a ceremony where the FBI symbolically released jurisdiction over to the city of Boston, Massachesetts, April 22, 2013.[Photo/Agencies]

BOSTON - A day of remembrance in Massachusetts reached around the world.

Hundreds of mourners crowded outside a suburban Boston church on Monday for the first of a series of funerals for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. It was followed by an evening university service for another young life cut short, this time a student from China.

The morning funeral was for Krystle Campbell, 29, a restaurant manager, and the evening's for graduate student Lingzi Lu, whose death resonated in China.

The April 15 attack at the marathon's finish line killed three people and injured more than 200.

No public funeral has yet been scheduled for the bombing's youngest victim, 8-year-old Martin Richard.

The suspected bombers were also believed to have fatally shot a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Thursday night before a gun battle with police and day-long manhunt that left most of the Boston area locked down.

The ceremonies came on a day of transition for the region after the bombings, marked both by the start of federal court proceedings and a moment of silence in mid-afternoon.

Near the blast zone, FBI officials lowered an American flag that had flown near the site of the bombing since April 15, and law enforcement officers carefully folded it and presented it to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

It was part of the process of investigators to turn the crime scene back over to the city and set the stage for the eventual reopening of Boylston Street, a busy shopping and commercial route closed for more than a week.

Some in the crowd outside St. Joseph's Church in Medford said they had driven as far as 100 miles (160 km) to attend the funeral of Campbell, and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and interim US Senator William "Mo" Cowan also were there.

Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley spoke, according to an event program. The funeral was closed to the media.

The hearse carrying Campbell's red-tinted casket was escorted by about 20 police motorcycles. An honor guard of uniformed law enforcement officers stood in front of the church as pallbearers carried the casket in.