WATCH: Hundreds turn out in procession for Waltham Police Officer Paul Tracey
WALTHAM - Hundreds of people lined a four-block span to honor Waltham Police Officer Paul Tracey, who was hit and killed while on detail Monday night.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and the images on Lexington Street told the story of a community grappling with grief.
When the body of Officer Tracey arrived at the Waltham Police Department, his hearse paused for several moments under a sprawling American flag and in front of his police cruiser. It was draped in bunting and covered in flowers left by residents.
There was a full force of Waltham police officers and firefighters lined on one side of the street with the people from the community Officer Tracey served on the other.
Hundreds stood in bitterly cold temperatures as the procession made its way from the Medical Examiner's office in Boston to the funeral home on Moody Street in Waltham.
"It shows how tight of a community we all are," Waltham High School senior Jack Pierre Louis said.
The school is where Officer Tracey's wife works as the school resource officer.
"It really hurts the whole community when something like this happens. A lot of people knew his kids. It's just really sad," Louis said.
Earlier Thursday, the officer's family spoke to reporters after seeing the man accused of killing him during the suspect's first court appearance.
Officer Tracey's brother and sister said their family is holding on and can feel the support from the community.
"He was a tremendous husband, father, uncle, and brother and loved by everybody in the community," said brother Jim Tracey. "Anybody who knew him, his laughter, his compassion, - it will be missed."
