Fallen MIT Officer Collier to Be Honored in Remembrance Ceremony

(NECN: Brian Burnell) – MIT Officer Sean Collier’s life was cut short when he died during a manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects just days after the attack.

A ceremony will be held in his honor Friday morning as the city of Boston reflects one year later on the events that brought everyone together as "Boston Strong."

The twin blasts at the marathon finish line on April 13 killed three people, injured more than 260 others, and forever changed the Boston Marathon.

Days later, Collier was sitting in cruiser when he was shot and killed allegedly by the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. During the manhunt in Watertown, Mass., Tamerlan was killed. Dzhokar was taken into custody and now faces the death penalty in a 30-count indictment.

The 9:30 remembrance ceremony for Collier on the MIT campus will be followed by a community picnic and an “MIT Strong” rally at 1:00 p.m. “MIT Strong” is a group on campus and 38 of them will be running in the Boston Marathon this year in honor of Collier.

Thousands of police officers attended Collier's funeral last year. Collier was an MIT police officer for only 15 months, but he made a huge impact on the college community, so much so, that the school's board voted to make him an honorary MIT alum.

A temporary memorial with his badge number has been erected. A permanent one is set to be created.

So far, $500,000 has been donated to the Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund.

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