Laid to rest: Honoring Detective Jason Weiland

WESTON - "God, we're not OK with this," said the Rev. Jerry Morris in his first prayer at Everest Metro Police Detective Jason Weiland's funeral Wednesday.

Weiland, 40, died last week, on duty. Members of the central Wisconsin community and law enforcement officers from all over the country honored him with a hero's farewell.

Crowds lined up outside the D.C. Everest Senior High School for visitations Tuesday and Wednesday. An estimated 3,500 attended the funeral there, and another 1,500 watched it live on YouTube. Countless others lined a processional route through town.

After the service, funeral attendees quietly embraced each other. A chorus of bagpipers led the pallbearers to the hearse. Some of the pallbearers wore Green Bay Packers jerseys, because Weiland loved the team.

Weiland died while establishing a perimeter during a standoff at Aspen Street Apartments with a shooter who killed three civilians before holing up in the Weston apartment building.

Police shot the suspect, Nengmy Vang, 45, and he remains in custody. The shooting spree started as a domestic dispute and spanned three different locations south of Wausau, according to police.

The four deaths shook the Wausau-area community. Dianne Look, Karen Barclay and Sara Quirt Sann also died in the shooting spree.

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The visitations

Somber lines wrapped around the high school during Weiland’s visitations. Some people dressed in formal attire, others were casual and in the Packers' green and gold.

Lutheran Church Charities brought trained comfort dogs from the Chicago area to offer some solace to mourners. The crowd included civilians and police in uniform from New York City, Oregon, Chicago, North Dakota and even Canada . Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker paid his respects during visitation on Tuesday.

Other departments stepped in to allow local officers to attend the funeral. Officer Kyle Roder, from the Eau Claire Police Department, worked with media at the high school.

"We all pull together (in times like this)," Roder told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. "We know on any given day we could get into a very bad situation which results in an officer being killed. We see that more often than we would like. We know no one is immune."

The funeral

Weiland's good friend teased him at the funeral.

"Jason, I know you like attention," said retired Wausau Police Capt. Greg Hagenbucher. "I know you're grinning from ear to ear right now."

Speakers at Weiland's funeral highlighted his idiosyncrasies, such as his love of nicknames. Weiland was best man in Hagenbucher's wedding and gave him the nickname Greggers. Weiland coined nicknames for many close to him.

The speakers also highlighted his sacrifice while working in law enforcement. The night before he died, Weiland told Hagenbucher he had "18 sexual assaults to worry about" investigating the next day.

"I love you. God bless our hero, J-Wow Dubs," Hagenbucher said.

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Weiland’s father and daughter also spoke at the funeral. And Everest Metro Police Chief Wally Sparks called him a "phenomenal detective" who "worked tirelessly."

Anna Weiland, who’s almost 11 according to Hagenbucher, called her dad her best friend and teacher.

"My dad really did give his life to everyone in Wausau,"  she said . "My dad was an amazing man. ... He will be looking down on us, laughing and crying."

Morris, the pastor at First United Methodist Church in Wausau, focused his remarks on self-sacrifice, something he called the most baffling human trait of all.

"Somehow we know that we are at our best when we are putting other's lives before our own," he said.

The procession

Weiland's funeral procession moved slowly through the heart of Wausau and its southern suburbs Wednesday afternoon.

Two helicopters circled the sky ahead of the procession. And hundreds of law enforcement officers escorted the fallen detective from the high school, past police stations, to Brainard Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Wausau.

The procession lasted a couple hours. Some volunteers, including Weston resident Donna Gosse, took the day off work to hang blue ribbons along the procession route in the morning.

Lights flashed on the fire trucks at the Schofield station on Grand Avenue and officials stood in salute as the train of police vehicles streamed past.

Rich and Tracy Lego brought their 6-year-old son Mason to watch. They came in support of officers and in thanks to those who kept schools safe during the shooting, Rich Lego said.

Weiland earnestly defended and protected others, say both friends and colleagues. And that's what he was doing when he died.

But his life, which so many celebrated on Wednesday, brought more than that to the community and his personal circle.

"Jason was a loving and caring son that made his father proud," said Weiland's father, Thomas Weiland. "Jason put smiles on everybody's faces."

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Nora G. Hertel: nora.hertel@gannettwisconsin.com or 715-845-0665; on Twitter @nghertel.