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Thousands pour into Dallas for fallen police officer funeral, local officers attend

Posted at 10:29 PM, Jul 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-13 23:29:38-04

Over three thousand people poured into Dallas to pay their respects to a fallen Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer.

Brent Thompson, 43, was killed in the July 7 ambush in downtown Dallas.

Thompson, a father of six and grandfather of three, had just married a fellow police officer.

He is the first DART officer to die in the line of duty.

Local police officers made it to the Dallas ceremony today in honor of Thompson and the four other officers that lost their lives.

“We’ve got a long blue line that will never be broken,” said Sgt. Marco Hinojos, a McLennan County officer. “That just goes to show you the type of respect we have nationwide. It’s not just locally. It’s everywhere. For everybody to come together, that’s expected. When one falls, we’ll all be there, when one hurts, we all hurt.”

Hewitt Police Chief James Devlin worked in North Texas before moving to Central Texas.

“The outpouring of support in our community is mind boggling,” said Devlin. “It makes us proud to do what we do, it makes us proud to be police officers. It makes me proud to be a chief.”

Hewitt Police Officer Jeffrey Foley described Thompson as a professional, courteous officer, and always willing to lend a hand.

Foley worked for the Navarro County Sheriff’s department with Thompson’s ex-wife and had met Thompson a few times, talking with him on a regular basis for work.

“He was smiling always ready to greet anybody and talk to anyone that wanted to talk to him and greet you with a hug and a good handshake,” said Foley.

Woodway Public Safety Director Yost Zakhary knows the DART Police Department’s Chief and says that he hasn’t felt so much hurt since the September 11 attacks.

“It’s senseless,” said Zakhary. “It didn’t have to happen.”

"Everytime an officer gets killed in the line of duty or gets seriously injured, it hurts. It’s a brother or sister in blue, but this one really affected us,” said Foley.

Thousands attended Thompson’s funeral today and will continue for following officers in the coming days for the funerals and for the memorial located at the Dallas Police Headquarters.

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