AUSTELL, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
Hundreds of police officers from across the region attended the funeral Monday for an Atlanta police officer who was killed last week after being struck by a car driven by a suspected drunk driver.
The funeral for Senior Police Officer Gail Thomas was held at Elizabeth Baptist Church in southwest Atlanta.
The honors began on Sunday. Thomas's daughter was on hand at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport as a plane landed carrying a special flag that will be used at Thomas' funeral.
The flag once flew over the World Trade Center. It was received by the Atlanta Police Department's color guard, of which Thomas was a member.
"She loved what she did, and she died doing what she loved," said Jasmine Sherman, a student at Georgia Southern University.
"It's a great honor. It really is," said Thomas's aunt, Opal Ross Evans.
Sunday night, at the officer's home in Austell, several Cobb County police officers came to show their support for the family. A long line of patrol cars with blue lights lit up the neighborhood.
"I think anybody can tell with the line of blue lights, it'll make your heart jump. It's that many cars," said Capt. Jeff Adcock.
The Cobb County officers then held a vigil in front of the officer's home as they surrounded Thomas' daughter and loved ones.
"Once we realized where she lived, that she actually lived in our back yard, we knew right then we had to do something just a little extra to show our love and support for the family," said Lt. O.S. Hamilton.
Thomas was killed last week while trying to assist a fellow officer who was investigating an accident on a tricky part of the Downtown Connector. As Thomas exited her patrol car, she was hit by a car driven by Chasity Nicole Jones, 22, of Stone Mountain, police said.
Police charged Jones with DUI and first degree vehicular homicide.
On Wednesday, Fox Brothers BBQ on DeKalb Avenue Northeast is donating 20 percent of sales to Thomas' family.
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