BRISTOL, Conn. (WTNH) — The memorial in front of the Bristol Police Department continues to grow by the hour as people stop and pay their respects.

They’re honoring Dustin DeMonte and Alex Hamzy, two Bristol police officers who were killed in the line of duty on Wednesday.

Alec Iurato was also injured in the incident. Police say it was Iurato who killed the gunman, a gunman that police say staged a 911 domestic violence call to his house so he could open fire and kill DeMonte and Hamzy.

Iurato has been on the police force for four years and was recently accepted into the Emergency Services Squad.

The outpouring of love and support and donations to the Bristol Police Department has been overwhelming. Tunnel To Towers has paid off DeMonte‘s mortgage, and a local fundraising effort brought in $50,000 in one day to help the families.

“I saw lots of messages that were very sad,” said 9-year-old Bristol resident Landon Marcotte.

There were many young families with young children dropping flowers off in front of the police department and reading the thousands of cards that are poured in from all over the country to the Bristol Police Department, many taped to the front window.

How do you explain the murder of two police officers to a 9-year-old? Greg Marcotte brought his son, Landon, to see the memorial, and read the cards to help him understand the sacrifice and risks the men and women in uniform take every day.

“They may or may not come back, and they don’t realize it, and they have sacrificed themselves for the community and that’s why I brought my son out here to show them what that’s about, and Sean went to sacrifice is about,” Marcotte said.

DeMonte will be honored at the Miami Dolphins game on Sunday, as he was a big fan of the football team.