BALTIMORE _ Shortly before 10 a.m., the bagpipes began and several hundred police officers rose to their feet in a church auditorium hushed but for the rustle of their dress blues. Officers wheeled in the flag-draped casket bearing the body of Baltimore County Police Officer Amy Caprio.
More than 1,000 mourners, including police officers from across the region, turned out for Caprio's funeral Friday morning at Mountain Christian Church in Joppa.
On Sunday, she would have turned 30. Her life was only just beginning, Gov. Larry Hogan told the crowd. He said her death was the result of a "heinous" crime.
Caprio, who served nearly four years on the police force, was killed Monday while responding to a call in Perry Hall. Four teenagers have been charged with first-degree murder in her death.
Her husband, Tim Caprio, said seeing her in the hospital Monday was the hardest day of his life. He said she made him a better person.
Four of her fellow officers spoke at her funeral. They remembered Caprio as a hardworking, caring police officer, and spoke of her dedication and blue eyes, her devotion to the Pittsburgh Steelers and her refusal to ever turn down any police call for a lost dog.
She was the 10th officer killed in the 144-year history of the Baltimore County Police Department.
The ceremony lasted about an hour before the funeral procession left for the burial site at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.
The procession from Joppa to Timonium included 100 motorcycles and more than 500 other cars and trucks stretching more than five miles.
As they arrived, dozens of flag-waving residents, uniformed officers, firefighters, and mounted guard from nearby counties and states lined East Padonia Road outside Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens to greet them.
The cars entering the grounds drove past several firefighter uniforms folded on the ground out of respect. They belonged to Towson's Providence Volunteer Fire Company, where a relative of Caprio's serves as a volunteer firefighter.
"It's a tragedy," said Lt. Joseph Benham of the fire company, "It's a shock any time there is a line-of-duty death."
Caprio will be the 72nd fallen public safety officer _ firefighter or police officer _ buried in the gardens since 1977. The last one was Sean Suiter, the Baltimore City police detective who was killed six months earlier.
Gayle Duncan, 62, stood under a tree across the street from the gardens. She was there to pay her respects to Suiter, and now for Caprio.
"Without them, this world would be in complete chaos," Duncan said of police officers. "We respect the law. They are there for us."
Lisa Livingston, 56, had driven in from Essex. "I just feel awful for the family," she said.
"But it's awful for both families. The family of the officer and the mother of the driver" who ran over Caprio, she said. "My daughter is going into law enforcement, but this can happen to any of us."
As the two watched the procession, Baltimore County Police Chief Terry Sheridan parked at the entrance and met with officers and Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger, whose office will be prosecuting the four Baltimore City teens charged with first-degree murder in Caprio's death.
The two of them walked together below a large U.S. flag draped several yards into the air above the entrance, elevated by two fire truck ladders and down to the service past another large flag laid across the grounds for Memorial Day.
