Delray officer who died honored at favorite gym

Peers hold ‘hero’ workout in memory of Christine Braswell.

DELRAY BEACH — Four planks. Eight 100-foot treks with weights on their backs. Twenty jump rope skips. Seventeen tosses of a medicine ball against a gym wall.

And “4-8-2017” scrawled on a nearby white board: The date officer Christine Braswell died.

The repeated workout routine on Friday evening was the way Braswell’s colleagues and gym friends chose to honor the officer, who was killed in a scooter crash in Key West, at Crossfit Dimensions gym in Delray Beach.

Every clank of a barbell, drop of sweat and streak of rope burn was a testament to Braswell’s strength, endurance and adoration for athleticism.

“She would’ve loved seeing us all in pain,” Sgt. Nicole Guer- riero said with a laugh. “Honestly, she would’ve felt like this is the perfect way to honor her. She would’ve wanted us to work hard, not cry.”

Some of Braswell’s fellow Delray Beach officers wore their police or SWAT uniforms. Others wore a shirt with Braswell’s photo printed on, under the word “Snipes,” her gym nickname based on her day job as the only female sniper in Palm Beach County.

The hourlong CrossFit session was crafted from Braswell’s favorite workouts, with total reps based on numbers that represented her badge number, date she died and number of years she worked with Delray Beach Police.

More than 40 participated in the workout session.

The tight-knit CrossFit community often crafts workouts to honor fallen officers or soldiers, called “Hero WODs,” or workouts of the day.

But this was the first time the tiny gym just blocks from Delray Beach police headquarters had dedicated a workout to someone they personally knew, said Rebecca Campbell, who co-owns CrossFit Dimensions with her husband, Matt.

“It’s hard,” Campbell said. “But the idea is not to worry about your own pain because you’re too busy honoring someone else’s.”

For many officers who made a habit of hitting the CrossFit gym with Braswell after their shifts, Friday was their first time there without her.

That was the case for officer Bernenda Marc, who rode the scooter with Braswell in Key West during the crash. Marc, 25, was critically injured in the wreck, but has since recovered and was

RICHARD GRAULICH / THE PALM BEACH POST Officer Bernenda Marc poses with SWAT team members Joseph Grammatico (from left), Marlon Reis, Rodner Guillaume and Casey Kelly during a “Hero Workout” dedicated to Delray Beach police officer Christine Braswell at Crossfit Dimensions in Delray Beach...

LANNIS WATERS / THE PALM BEACH POST Branden Frederick appears in court Friday morning to be charged with premeditated first-degree murder in the slaying of Curtisia Smith in Boynton Beach earlier this month. Police dropped the charge the same day.

Delray Beach police officer Christine Braswell died in a scooter accident.