The Bristol community gathered Wednesday to pay their respects to Sgt. Alex Hamzy, who was killed last week with Lt. Dustin DeMonte in an apparent ambush.

A steady flow of people stopped by the funeral home, so many that they had to bus people in from the fairgrounds in Terryville. The final stop for some was the growing memorial outside Bristol Police Department, which is filled with balloons and messages to the officers.

For Paula Mills, it's a teaching moment for her grandchildren.

"Someday, they will be told what happened, and we want to teach them when they're young to pay their respects," said Mills.

There will be a private wake for DeMonte Thursday. News 12 will have full coverage of Hamzy and DeMonte's joint funeral on Friday.