A fallen NYPD sergeant was remembered at his funeral as a hero nearly a week after he was shot dead by a suspect in the Bronx. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report.

NYPD officers carried the casket of their brother in blue, Sergeant Paul Tuozzolo as his devastated wife Lisa looked on. 

Thousands of officers lined the streets around St. Rose of Lima Church in Massapequa to salute him. 

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuozzolo made the ultimate sacrifice.

"He could've sent his fellow officers forward, but he took the lead. That is the measure of a man. And he gave his life, protecting his fellow officers, protecting all of us," the mayor said. "He laid down his life in the perfect spirit of the scripture. He laid down his life for his friends."

Tuozzolo died Friday responding to an emergency call in the Bronx about Manuel Rosales threatening his estranged wife with a gun. 

When officers approached Rosales' car, police say he shot sergeant Tuozzolo. Another officer then shot and killed Rosales. 

Sergeant Emanuel Kwo was shot as well. Kwo, spoke through his union president at the funeral Kwo said he would be dead too if it wasn't for his fellow sergeant. 

"I was approaching that car, too, and I didn't see what Paul saw. I would've continued to approach that car just as Paul did, but Paul's final words were a warning to me and my partner. He yelled to us, 'Gun, gun, gun,'" Mullins said on behalf of Kwo.

And with that, Kwo hugged Tuozzolo's wife. 

Officers from around the country came to give the sergeant's family and the NYPD support. 

Next year would have marked 20 years on the job for Tuozzolo. That's when officers can retire with a full pension. He could have taken a job inside the last few months, but Police Commissioner James O'Neill says the veteran officer decided against that.

"Something away from the streets of the southeast Bronx," O'Neill said. "'Nope,' was Paul's quick answer. 'I'll take day-tour patrol. I’m good with that.' Paul was always 'good.' He wanted to end his career the way he started it, working the radio and keeping the public safe."

The police commissioner posthumously promoted Touzzolo to Sergeant Special-Assignment, the highest rank for a sergeant. Ten helicopters flew above his casket as a part of the funeral. 

Tuozzolo not only leaves his parents and wife behind, his two small boys are now left without their father.