Thousands gather to mourn slain OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller

Thousands of police officers and other invited guests gathered at Ottawa's Canadian Tire Centre Thursday morning for the funeral of Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Eric Mueller.

Mueller, 42, was shot to death last week while responding to a call in Bourget, Ont.

The private ceremony was attended by Mueller's family, guests, and members of the OPP and other police and emergency services.

About 9,000 officers were expected to attend, an OPP spokesperson told CBC Thursday morning.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner and Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell also attended and spoke during the ceremony.

As a motorcade carrying Mueller's casket made its way west along Highway 417 through Ottawa earlier Thursday morning, firefighters and other first responders lined the overpasses in a display of respect for the fallen officer.

WATCH | Mueller's casket travels to the service:

As it approached the Canadian Tire Centre (CTC), a solemn procession of uniformed police officers from across Canada, led by pipe bands from the RCMP, Ottawa police and others, made its way down Huntmar Drive as members of the public lined the route.

Waiting at the CTC was an enormous Canadian flag held aloft by two Ottawa Fire Services ladder trucks.

Shortly after 10 a.m., eight OPP pallbearers carried Mueller's casket, which was shrouded with the flag of Ontario, from the hearse into the building while other officers saluted.

Following behind was one officer carrying Mueller's hat and another carrying his medals.

Minutes before 11 a.m., OPP Pipe Major Steve MacDougald led the funeral procession down a red carpet between rows of invited guests while thousands of police officers filled the arena seats surrounding them.

As the pallbearers laid the casket on a platform in front of a dais, Mueller's hat and medals were placed on top.

Flowers, flags and portraits of the slain officer adorned the stage. Following a minute of silence, OPP Chief Supt. Stephanie Patterson, who became Mueller's regional commander just days before his death, began presiding over the ceremony.

"Thousands of people from across the country are here to honour him today," Dowdeswell said.

"We are here to uphold his memory, we are here for one another, especially Eric's fellow officers, who are still recovering, and most of all for his loving family. Ontarians mourn alongside you. We do so with empathy and gratitude for the sacrifice you have made."

Addressing Mueller's family, Ford described the slain officer as a beloved son, brother, husband and father.

"Eric made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf and on the province's behalf, and we'll be forever grateful. Thank you," he said.

Ford then turned to the mourning police officers.

"I'm so sorry for your pain. We all grieve with you as you mourn the loss of yet another brother. Every day, you put your life on the line to protect the people of Ontario, and I want you to know attacks against police officers will never, ever be tolerated in this province."

WATCH | Some of the people paying respects outside:

In his eulogy, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique described being awoken by a phone call just before 3 a.m. on May 11 and praying it wasn't more bad news.

Mueller and two of his colleagues at the Russell County OPP detachment were called to a home on Laval Street in the Bourget early that morning after someone reported hearing a gunshot.

All three were shot within minutes of arriving. They were taken to hospital in Ottawa, where Mueller died of his injuries.

"Today, I stand before you in shock and disbelief," Carrique said Thursday, noting that he'd attended the funeral of another slain OPP officer, Const. Grzegorz Pierzchala, just over four months earlier.

"This pattern of violence being perpetrated against the police is not my glorious and free Canada," Carrique said. "We need to ask ourselves if our police officers — the very ones we rely upon for our safety and security — are not safe, then who is?"

The day of the shooting, Carrique described the attack on the three officers as an "ambush." Alain Bellefeuille, 39, has since been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Other speakers at Thursday's funeral, including Mueller's brother-in-law Chris Wood, remembered the fallen officer as a "gentle giant" with a mischievous sense of humour who, as proud as he was to serve in uniform, was even prouder of his young family.

Toward the end of the ceremony, the flag atop Mueller's casket was folded and presented along with his forage cap — the peaked hat OPP officers wear — to his widow Marie-France Ethier, who was seated with Mueller's mother and other family members in the front row.

The pallbearers then carried the casket away as a lone piper played and officers from Mueller's detachment formed a guard of honour.