Charleston Hartfield, a 34-year-old off-duty Las Vegas police officer who was killed during the shooting at a music festival on Sunday, was honored as a hero by thousands of people gathered at a vigil Thursday night.
Hartfield was a police officer, sergeant first class in the Nevada Army National Guard and a youth football coach, CNN reported.
An officer who worked with Hartfield said he was "the most patriotic person" he ever met and that he "loved his country and his city," according to CNN.
Hartfield's wife, Veronica, and two children were present at the vigil, CNN reported.
"He loved his wife and children, so, so much," another colleague said.
"He led his life with honor, dignity, and a great capacity for others," a detective in his precinct said, CNN reported.
Hartfield wrote a memoir called "Memoirs of a Public Servant" that described his experiences as a Las Vegas police officer, calling it "the busiest and brightest city in the world," CNN reported.
"I figured he was probably busy helping others," his friend Troy Rhett told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "They say it’s always the good ones we lose early. There’s no truer statement than that with Charles."
Rhett had texted Hartfield on Sunday night after the shooting happened and didn’t get a response.
The shooting at a music festival Sunday night killed 59 people and wounded about 500 and was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
Twitter users joined in to add their statements about Hartfield’s sacrifice.
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