Thousands gather for funeral of slain Ontario police officer

WINGHAM, Ont. - Thousands of police officers from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador, and from New York state, gathered Friday in a small western Ontario town to say goodbye to one of their own.

An estimated 8,000 people - mostly police - were in Wingham for the funeral of Ontario Provincial Police Const. Vu Pham.

Hundreds of Mounties, OPP and military police stood at guard outside the hockey arena where the funeral is being held.

Under overcast skies, the sound of bagpipes could be heard in the distance as bleary eyed family members and friends arrived to pay their last respects to the 37-year-old officer - killed Monday on a rural stretch of highway north of London, Ont.

The hearse carrying Pham's casket was escorted by 10 police vehicles and a motorcycle brigade.

A light drizzle began to fall as the brown coffin draped with an Ontario flag was carried into the arena by OPP pallbearers, followed by Pham's wife and three young sons - Tyler, Jordan and Joshua. The funeral is being held in the same arena where Pham took the boys to play hockey.

Pham's wife, Heather, was escorted by an honour police guard dressed in green and her sons dressed in black.

Other family followed as the bagpipes played.

Hundreds of people, who lined the side road leading to the arena, watched in silence as the coffin arrived. Those who could not fit into the arena, as well as media, listened to the ceremony on loudspeakers outside.

Mourners include Premier Dalton McGuinty and Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino

"We're so very sorry your Dad is gone but he's still with you," McGuinty told the boys. "He lived a life absolutely devoted to his family."

Faninto said: "Const Vu Pham, you can stand down. You have done your duty although we will move on, we will never forget you."

"Your loss is our loss," he said. "We share your pain."

A cousin, Phillip Nguyen from West Virginia said: "He was a great person. He treated me like one of his brothers. I loved him so much as a brother."

Pham's adopted father Pastor Dan Thompson and Heather Pham will also speak.

Born in Saigon, Pham - a 15-year police veteran - was adopted as a boy by Dan Thompson and his wife Terry, who were active members of the Pentecostal church in Sundridge, Ont., the same village of 1,000 where the alleged shooter lived.

That man, Fred Preston, 70, died Thursday in hospital, according to police.

Preston was also charged with one count of attempted murder for firing at a second police officer who responded to the scene.

Preston's family said his daughters decided to take their father - who reportedly had a bullet lodged in his brain - off life-support Thursday evening.

In lieu of flowers, the officer's family is asking that donations be made to a trust fund in support of Constable Pham's children. They can be made at any Scotiabank (account #410120215023) or through the McBurney Funeral Home in Wingham.