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Friends Gather To Say Farewell To Shooting Victim

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (AP) - The Stars and Stripes were flying as mourners entered a suburban Chicago funeral home to remember a U.S. Navy sailor killed in last week's shooting at a suburban Denver movie theater.

There were hugs and tears among friends and family of John Larimer as they gathered in Crystal Lake on Friday to bid him farewell. The 27-year-old cryptologic technician was based at Colorado's Buckley Air Force Base.

Larimer was among 12 people killed during the Aurora, Colo. theater shooting.

Larimer's girlfriend, July Vojtsek of Algonquin, has said Larimer pushed her to the floor to protect her from the bullets.

Ryan Dreifke, who attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with Larimer, said his friend would do that for anyone he cared about.

Larimer's funeral will be open to family and close friends.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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