HEBRON, OH (WCMH) – Nearly 4,000 people came to Hebron Saturday night for the annual drag race and car show at National Trail Raceway.

Many in attendance came out to honor the memory of fallen police chief Steven Eric DiSario of the Kirkersville Police Department.

“We want to do it in front of our hometown crowd,” said Derrick Beach, an organizer of the event and an employee of the Newark Police Department.  “A community that Chief DiSario, in just the three weeks of being on the force, absolutely loved.”

Before the Night of Thunder began, there was a ceremony to honor Chief  DiSario, who was shot and killed along with two nurses earlier this year by Thomas Hartless at a nursing home in Kirkersville. Hartless also shot and killed himself.

A dozen local law enforcement agencies attended the ceremony, most of them from Licking County.

“Whenever we have an opportunity to participate and be supportive of other agencies we always look forward to doing that,” Sgt. Garrett Fernander with the New Albany Police Department said.

The new Kirkersville Police cruiser was also revealed for the first time since DiSario’s death.