Colo. Church Honors Part-Time Pastor Killed in Planned Parenthood Shooting

A Colorado Springs church honored slain Colorado Springs police officer Garrett Swasey over the weekend, after the father of two was killed during the Planned Parenthood shooting last Friday that claimed three lives. 

Garrett Swasey, who worked as a University of Colorado Colorado Springs Police Officer, was killed during a five-hour standoff with alleged gunman Robert Lewis Dear after the suspect opened fire on the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic.

Swasey, along with being a police officer, was also a husband of 17 years, a father of two and a part-time pastor at Hope Chapel in Colorado Springs.

Hundreds reportedly gathered at Hope Chapel to honor Swasey on Sunday, with one of the church's co-pastors, Scott Dontanville, describing the slain officer as a beloved friend.

"You don't realize how much you love someone until you can't tell him anymore," Dontanville reportedly said Sunday, as reported by the Canon City Daily Record.

"We're not going to go on as usual today because we can't," Dontanville reportedly added to the congregation. "Today is not the day."

Swasey's family also said in a statement that their loved one's greatest joys included "his family, his church, and his profession."

"Helping others brought him deep satisfaction and being a police officer was a part of him," the family added in a statement, as reported by NBC News.

The police officer's father, 73-year-old David Swasey, told the Boston Globe that his son was a great father and person.

"He was a great dad," Swasey said. "I mean, a super dad. Everybody in the police department loved him. Anybody who ever met him loved him. He was a great guy, a great person."