About 1,000 people gathered Saturday to pay their last respects to a police officer slain in his home near Philadelphia last weekend.
Mourners packed St. Joseph's Church in Collingdale for the funeral of 26-year-old Mark Hudson, who had worked part time for the Darby Borough police force in Delaware County for four years and was also a volunteer firefighter.
Authorities say Hudson was shot to death in his Darby Township home March 28. His girlfriend, 27-year-old Tyaina Finch, has been charged with murder and other crimes.
District Attorney John Whelan said Hudson's death was "a great devastation for the entire law enforcement community," the Delaware County Daily Times reported.
Hudson joined the Yeadon Fire Company as a junior firefighter and three years later became a lieutenant.
He graduated from the police academy in 2011 and joined the Yeadon Police Department, joining the Darby squad a year later as they had more calls.
"Thank you, Mark, for making a difference," Chief Robert Smythe said, pausing to compose himself. "We know you're safe. ... We will miss you and we will not forget. You're my shining star and my hero."
The Rev. Perry Messick, chaplain for Delaware County Lodge 27 Fraternal Order of Police, called Hudson "a helper of the helpless."
"He liked to save those who couldn't save themselves," Messick said.
The Rev. Raymond Merriweather, Darby Borough police chaplain, said, "The lives this man has touched in 26 years is phenomenal."
