Thousands Mourn Fallen Everest Metro Det. Jason Weiland

An estimated 3,500 mourners attended a memorial service Wednesday in Weston for fallen Everest Metro Police Det. Jason Weiland.

The 40-year-old detective was one of four people killed in a Wausau-area shooting spree last week.

Weiland left behind his wife Kara and two young daughters, Ella and Anna.

Anna thanked the law enforcement in the crowd for “protecting our country, and that is just what my dad did.”

Hundreds of law enforcement officers were among those who gathered to pay respects to the detective. The officers, in step, approached the open casket at D.C. Everest High School where they slowly saluted Weiland, killed when encountering a man accused of also fatally shooting two bank employees and an attorney.

The officers from jurisdictions as far as New York City gathered in a demonstration of unity. They joined family, friends and acquaintances packed into the gym to honor the killed officer.

Weiland’s father, Thomas, led the mourners in a moment of silence for the other three victims.

Everest Metro Police Chief Wally Sparks described Weiland as a “phenomenal detective” who was “fearless in the face of danger.”

His longtime friend, Wausau Police Capt. Greg Hagenbucher, remembered his sense of humor.

“Jason, I miss you,” Hagenbucher said. “You have graced my life more than you’ll ever know … I love you. God bless our hero.”

Rev. Gerald Morris of Wausau’s First United Methodist Church told the mourners they had a right to be angry.

“God, we are not OK with this,” Morris said. “There is no way this is right, and we refuse to accept the notion that this is your will. This is one of those times when you should have intervened in the workings of nature, and should have said, ‘No, not yet.’ And the fact that you did not makes us angry.”

Family members wore Green Bay Packers jerseys with Weiland’s name and badge number on them.

The hallways of the high school were covered with hand-drawn cards from area students, thanking law enforcement for their service.

A procession of squad cars more than 2 miles long followed the ceremony.

A lone gunman shot Weiland as he was helping police establish a perimeter around a Weston apartment complex.

The suspected gunman, 45-year-old Nengmy Vang, has also been implicated in the shooting deaths of 67-year-old Dianne Look and 62-year-old Karen Barclay, both employees of Marathon Savings Bank in Rothschild, and 43-year-old Sara Quirt Sann, an attorney with Tlusty, Kennedy and Dirks of Schofield.

Vang was injured in a shooting with law enforcement and taken into custody.

The shootings are being attributed to domestic violence since the accused shooter, Vang, is in divorce proceedings.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 29 with additional reporting from WPR.