Funerals held for 3 slain in mass shooting

JESUP, Ga. -- Those close to Shannon Johnson knew him to be fearless -- whether he was moving across the country to pursue love, rescuing stray animals in the path of a wildfire, or trying to shield a co-worker from gunfire during the last moments of his life.

The 45-year-old health inspector from Los Angeles received a hero's funeral Saturday in his home state of Georgia 10 days after the massacre in San Bernardino, California. Funerals also were held in Southern California for two other victims -- Tin Nguyen, 31, and Isaac Amanios, 60.

One of Johnson's colleagues wounded in the attack, Denise Peraza, said later he wrapped an arm tightly around her as bullets went flying and assured her: "I got you."

Those would be his last words.

Johnson was sitting next to Peraza at a holiday luncheon for San Bernardino County environmental health employees Dec. 2 when Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 29, opened fire. The husband and wife later were killed in a shootout with authorities.

Peraza said she and Johnson sought cover beneath a table when he tried to shield her. Johnson was among 14 people killed in the attack. Peraza was shot in the back, but survived.

"I believe I am still here today because of this amazing man," Peraza said in a statement soon after the killings.

Inside Calvary Baptist Church in the rural city of Jesup, where Johnson was born about 2,300 miles from the auditorium in which he died, a congressman gave his family a folded U.S. flag while praising him as "an American hero."

"Shannon's fearless. He's always been that way," Rob Johnson, the slain man's older brother, said before the service.

Nguyen was remembered in a service conducted in Vietnamese at St. Barbara's Catholic Church in Santa Ana, not far from Orange County's Little Saigon area. Born in Vietnam, Nguyen was 8 when her family left that country for the United States.

Her fiance carried a large portrait of Nguyen into the church as members of the standing-room-only crowd reached to touch it. The couple had planned to marry in 2017. The day before Nguyen was killed, she celebrated her fiance's 32nd birthday.

Nguyen's mother and grandmother, weeping, followed the casket down the aisle to the altar.

A cousin took a moment in English to thank first responders, local politicians and Nguyen's co-workers at the San Bernardino County health department, where Nguyen was hired as an inspector after attending California State University, Fullerton.

In the days after the shooting, businesses she inspected posted online tributes, remembering Nguyen's big heart and laughter.

Meanwhile friends and family of Amanios filled St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church in Colton, California. His wife waved her arms in front of a portrait of Amanios set up next to his casket as their three adult children looked on.

Amanios was a supervising environmental health specialist for San Bernardino County. He fought in Eritrea's war for independence and believed the U.S. was a refuge from violence and fear.

Amanios was cousins with NFL player Nat Berhe, who has played for the New York Giants.