Lafollette, Tenn. ? Teachers lined the streets of Lafollette, a mountain community, Saturday to honor an assistant principal who was killed as administrators tried to wrestle a gun away from a student.

Several hundred people attended a funeral Mass for Ken Bruce, 48, who was remembered as a peacemaker and a role model respected by students.

“Children loved him. He wasn’t the type to intimidate kids or anything,” said Campbell County Sheriff Ron McClelland. “They knew they could come to him with anything.”

Following the service at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, more than 1,000 teachers lined the route to a nearby cemetery.

A visitation on Friday had drawn 4,000 people, including Gov. Phil Bredesen.