ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
A colleague and close friend of fallen Atlanta Police Department officer Gail Thomas clutched a folded flag to her chest that once flew over Ground Zero in New York City and was flown in to Atlanta to honor her.
Thomas was a Senior Police Officer for the APD and had been responding to an accident when she was struck by an oncoming car on I-75 southbound. Thomas died on the scene.
Thomas was with APD for 15 years and leaves behind one daughter, Jasmine Sherman, a junior at Georgia Southern University who said her mom inspired her.
"She was a very strong woman and that rubbed off on me," Sherman said. "She was my rock."
Sherman, her mother's best friend and Thomas' aunt, Opal Ross Evans, all waited at the airport to see the Ground Zero flag flown in.
"It's a great honor and we're very proud to be here," Ross Evans said.
The flag will be used to honor Thomas at her funeral on Monday at the Elizabeth Baptist Church at 4245 Cascade Rd. in southwest Atlanta.
Twenty-two-year-old Chasity Nicole Jones was arrested and charged with a DUI and first-degree homicide by vehicle. Jones blew a .16 on scene.
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