A five-year-old boy form Western Indiana in the USA is unlikely to forget his first day back at school after a leave of absence.
Dakota Pitts didn’t want to show up to school alone after his dad, Robb Pitts, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty.
According to CBS News, Robb, who was a policeman for 16 years, was fatally shot by a 21-year-old suspect while responding to a call on 4 May.
So when Dakota had to go back to school after the tragic event, he asked his mother whether one of his dad’s fellow police officers could escort him to Sullivan Elementary School. But when he got to school almost 70 police officers had showed up, forming a guard of honour as he walked in wearing a yellow backpack and his dad’s police badge around the neck.
“Dakota asked his mom if one of his dad’s friends could take him to school so she reached out to Rob’s friends,” Les Hamm, a detective from Terre Haute police department told CNN affiliate WTHI TV.
The officers who showed up at Dakota’s school weren’t just from his dad’s precinct, but they came from other departments as well.
The five-year-old wore his father’s police badge proudly while he walked past the line of officers.
The officers also gave him his very own SWAT T-shirt and badge upon his arrival. They wanted Dakota to know they’ll always have his back.
“He’ll definitely know his dad was a hero. Blood doesn’t always make family. And I think the blue family went above and beyond,” Dakota’s aunt, Rob’s sister Kelly Jones, told WTHI TV.
Sources: Fox5 Vegas, WTHI TV, The Independent, CBS News