Countless people stood under the November sun, silently looking onto a parade of hundreds of police cars moving through Littleton.
The moment was a somber celebration of the life of a Golden Police Department officer who was killed while working just a week ago.
A memorial service was held Wednesday for 33-year-old Evan Dunn, who was struck and killed during a crash on Highway 58 around 5 p.m. Nov. 6.
Prior to the service, the parade moved through Littleton as it transported Dunn to the private funeral held at Mission Hills Church. The parade included 523 first responders and 255 vehicles from 75 different police departments, with Dunn’s family traveling in the middle.
A Black Hawk helicopter, sending whirling sounds over the silent crowd, led the parade. Dunn flew the helicopters while in the military.
“I’m just wrecked for the family. I have kids that are in their 30s, just like this young man. It just hits you,” said Lesa Higgins, a woman from Centennial who watched the parade.
But, in the midst of a tragedy — with Dunn being the first Golden officer to die in the line of duty in the department’s history — the city’s community has banded together, shown by the hundreds of mourning people honoring the officer during the parade.