Funeral for a Fallen Officer

Family, friends and even strangers came together today, to remember a Grundy County Deputy who was shot and killed in the line of duty. Funeral Services were held today for Deputy Shane Tate at Layne Funeral home in Altamont.

Kermit Bryson shot and killed Tate while Tate and two other officers were trying to serve Bryson an arrest warrant earlier this week...

The mood of the folks here was not just somber.. these folks are really still in shock. In fact, one person told me it's so sad that all of this happened, over a piece of paper.. the warrant that was being served.. on Kermit Bryson. But what happened, has happened, and the folks in Grundy County came out to honor a family member, a friend, a neighbor and a fellow officer.

As folks lined the streets of Altamont, Tonya Crawford got her kids lined up and ready. It's not every day a slain officer goes by, and she wanted her kids to be mindful of the sacrifice Deputy Shane Tate made "I hope that they learn through everything, just Grace, and to thank God for every day that we live," she says.

The Layne Funeral Home was packed. Shane Tate's family, his friends.. And the most fitting tribute of all.. Fellow officers from all over East and Middle Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.

"He's a good officer, as everybody already know, right out of the academy.. well loved from the entire department," says Deputy Tommy Dunham.

When the funeral was over, the processional began to the cemetery, that's when everyone remembers Deputy Tate the most.. From those that Tennessee Trooper Jason Boles that he worked alongside..

"He's the most polite person you could ever meet.. he was a hard worker," Trooper Boles says.

"It just gives you iniative to keep going.. for him," says Sgt. Dennis McCormick, "he loved doing his job, he died doing what he loved."

But Ms. Crawford says, that grace works both ways. "Even though one was the shooter, and one was the innocent," she says, "we are not here to judge, so you pray the same for both.. My heart goes out to both sides."

Here's an excerpt from Deputy Tate's funeral program..

"I'd like the memory of me, to be a happy one. I'd like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done. I'd like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways, of happy times and bright and sunny days. I'd like the tears of those who grieve, to dry before the sun. Of happy memories that I leave, when life is done."