Dozens of Fort Worth police officers, and members of Cpl. Garrett Hull's family traveled to Washington Saturday to honor Hull and other fallen officers during National Police Week, which runs through Thursday.
Hull was killed in a shootout in September confronting gunmen outside a bar they had just robbed.
Hillwood Airways, a private charter airline owned by the Perot Company, provided air travel for the trip to Washington from Fort Worth. Brotherhood for the Fallen's Fort Worth chapter, the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, and the Fort Worth Police Department, with the help of Hillwood Airways, coordinated the trip.
"This is the first time we're taking this large number of officers," Assistant Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus said. "There will be a lot of smiles, a lot of hugging, and stories told about Garrett. This is just a reinforcement of how much support we have out there in the community."
Hull spent 17 years with the department.
"He believed that there was good in this world," said Hull's wife Sabrina, who will be joined on the flight by her two daughters. "It's just incredible how everyone is coming out like this. I've been preparing for what is about to happen. I know that I'm about to see my husband's name on the National Memorial, and that makes it more real, but I can hear him saying, 'Keep going, babe. Just be brave, rise up.' I can just hear that."
Hull's family and friends, along with the Fort Worth Police Department, will attend the 31st annual Candlelight Vigil on the National Mall Monday night.
