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Thousands Pay Respects At Funeral For Yarmouth Police Officer Sean Gannon

YARMOUTH (CBS/AP) — Thousands of police officers from across the country and civilians attended the funeral of a Yarmouth officer who was killed in the line of duty.

Friends and relatives of Yarmouth K-9 Officer Sean Gannon paid their final respects at a morning Mass at St. Pius X Church on Wednesday. A procession was held to his burial, which was private. Several K-9 units from across New England stood at attention as the procession passed.

sean gannon funeral
Thousands of police officers were at St. Pius X Church for the funeral for Yarmouth Police Officer Sean Gannon. (WBZ-TV)

Gannon was shot and killed April 12 while he, his K-9 Nero and other officers were serving an arrest warrant at a home in Barnstable. Nero was wounded and was released from the hospital hours after the funeral.

Gannon was married and just 32 years old.  He served 8 years in the department.

A line of blue created by uniformed officers marched from the local high school to the church before the service started. It was made up by representatives from departments across Massachusetts and New England, from New York City and Chicago, and from as far away as Texas and California.

Lebanon, N.H. police officer Nick Alden said it could have been him who didn't come home that day.

"Every day starts the same and you never know what you're going to get," Alden said.

WATCH: Officers From Across The Country Attend Funeral 

It's something Auburn Police have seen close up. Auburn police officer Ronald Tarentino was killed during a 2016 traffic stop. Auburn had stickers made for Yarmouth Police, to honor yet another beloved officer lost in similar circumstances.

"There's some anger, honestly, about that, where, disappointment, where we feel like we haven't learned anything in two years," Auburn Police Detective Lt. Scott Mills said at Gannon's funeral.

New York City Police Officer Ronette Benjamin, who came to Yarmouth, explained that the ceremonial show is what gets officers through the lowest lows of an increasingly stressful job.

"If the shoe was on the other foot, and I was in that casket, and Officer Gannon had to come to the funeral, he would come and stand out here to show his respect as we normally do," Benjamin said.

Sean gannon funeral
Thousands of police officers were outside St. Pius X Church for the funeral for Yarmouth Police Officer Sean Gannon. (WBZ-TV)

Hundreds of civilians also stood outside the church.

"We give him back to you without a murmur, but our hearts are wrung with sorrow," the Rev. Paul Caron said during a short service without a eulogy.

Caron told the story about the day he arrived at the Cape Cod parish last year. A secretary called to tell him police were on the way to his office.

"I wasn't here long enough to be in trouble," Caron said.

He heard a bang on his door and the words, "Police! Open up!"

He opened the door to find Gannon, who hugged him and welcomed him to town.

sean gannon funeral
Thousands of police officers were outside St. Pius X Church for the funeral for Yarmouth Police Officer Sean Gannon. (WBZ-TV)

"So now we come together and mourn his death, but we also give thanks that he lived, that we knew him on some level," Caron said.

Early Wednesday morning, Yarmouth Police promoted Gannon posthumously to sergeant.

He was known as the kind of police officer who helped people on and off the job, volunteering at shelters and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

"He's so kind and friendly. He went out of his way. He loved what he -- at least he loved what he did. It's terrible what happened," said one woman who came out for the officer's funeral.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and state Attorney General Maura Healey were among those who attended the funeral.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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