Thousands Gather To Mourn Slain Rookie Officer Natalie Corona

DAVIS (CBS SF/AP) -- Thousands of people, along with law enforcement officers from across the state, gathered for a memorial service Friday for a rookie police officer who was gunned down in Davis while responding to a traffic call.

Natalie Corona, 22, was shot and killed on January 10 while responding to a multiple-car crash in Davis. The gunman, who took his own life after the shooting, was identified as a convicted felon who had been banned from owning guns.

Loved ones and officers from across the country packed about 8,000 seats at an indoor arena at the University of California, Davis, to pay tribute to Corona, who had dreamed from a young age of going into law enforcement like her father.

"It was truly in her blood," Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said. "I placed a bet that one day she'd be the police chief. I know what it takes, and she had it."

He apologized to her parents, Merced and Lupe Corona, for the shooting death of their daughter last week as she responded to a car crash.

"You delivered to us the perfect cop. Our commitment to you was to get her home," he said. "I'm so sorry that we didn't get her back home to you."

Family, colleagues and others who knew Corona have recalled her vibrant smile, compassion, dedication and lifelong dream of joining law enforcement in the footsteps of her father, who spent 26 years as a Colusa County sheriff's deputy.

Merced Corona said he tried to get his daughter "Nat" to join the county force, but she told him that she had "found the perfect department in the perfect city" and couldn't picture herself anywhere else.

"Today we lay to rest our beloved sister cop," he said.

The service began with a bagpipe processional and included a performance by musician Billy Ray Cyrus, who said Corona's smile touched his heart. He called her a "light in this world that won't be forgotten."

A rising star in the Davis department, Corona graduated from the Sacramento Police Academy in July and had completed her field training in December. She was assigned to patrol on her own just weeks ago.

After the memorial service, a funeral procession is planned from Davis to the town of Arbuckle about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north, where the Corona family lives. The slain officer is survived by her mother, her father and three younger sisters.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.