Thousands Celebrate Life of Slain Park Ranger

Top federal officials, fellow park rangers and thousands of well-wishers have gathered in Washington state to celebrate the life of Margaret Anderson, a Mount Rainier National Park ranger who was fatally shot on New Year's Day.

A funeral procession of law enforcement vehicles, ambulances, fire trucks and other emergency service vehicles arrived at Pacific Lutheran University Tuesday morning.

Later, hundreds of rangers, police officers and others stood at attention and saluted, as Anderson's family and friends followed her flag-draped casket into the auditorium.

Anderson began her career as a law enforcement officer for the National Park Service in 2002. The 34-year-old mother of two was shot and killed after setting up a roadblock to stop a vehicle that blew through a checkpoint on the road to the park's visitor center.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)