KOKOMO, Ind. (WTHR) - In Kokomo's Albright Cemetery Wednesday night, a community remembered a fallen officer.
"I keep replaying in my mind what happened that night," said Cassie Koontz, widow of Howard County Deputy Carl Koontz, killed three years ago this night.
"Thank you for giving us this day, this night. As we gather to remember our friend," said a deputy who brought everyone together in prayer at the graveside.
Cassie Koontz told Eyewitness News, "Last night, I kept waking up all night. Just flashbacks of what happened that night three years ago."
On March 20, 2016, this community lost a hero to a gunman.
And it can't forget.
The deputy's widow and almost four-year-old son met the community to mark the third anniversary of a tear in the Thin Blue Line - the murder of Howard County Sheriff's Deputy Carl Koontz.
"We're thankful for the time we got to spend with Carl. Thank you for the many memories that we have," a deputy prayed.
Cassie Koontz not only works now helping other law enforcement families touched by violence, she also works to help her son Noah get to know his father. Noah was just seven months old when he lost his dad.
"Where is daddy?," she asks her son.
He points to the grave.
"Where is he really?" she asks.
Noah then points upward to heaven.
"What happened to daddy?"
"Boo boo," says Noah.
"Yeah, bad guy gave him a boo boo," replies his mother.
Cassie knows Noah's tougher questions will come later. She also knows the sight of a line of police cars, their red and blue lights activated, weaving through the graveyard is a reassuring sight.
"As a surviving widow of an in-line duty death, it's very important for us to know the community is always behind us," Cassie said. "For most of us, it feels like we are always alone since our other half is gone. So it's really nice to just know the community is behind us and that the other law-enforcement officers are behind us."
She said when she and her son are in the car and they pass a police car, Noah says "Dad." When she asks what he wants to be one day, he'll say, "Dad cop, me cop."