Some of the hundreds of people who gathered Friday night at Oak Park Village Hall to mourn and remember Detective Allan Reddins. (Photo by Bill Dwyer/for Chronicle Media)

Friday evening outside the Oak Park Village Hall on Madison Street, an American flag hung from the extended ladder of a fire department truck, while inside the hall courtyard, hundreds of people gathered in below-freezing weather to honor the life and legacy of slain police Detective Allan Reddins.

To many of those present, Reddins was more than the police. He was, they said, someone who embodied the very best of law enforcement, a man who was both a protector and a mentor, a true public servant who took to heart the motto “to serve and protect.”

The violent events of a post-Thanksgiving morning on Lake Street in Oak Park have, by all indications, shaken many of those in the village on Chicago’s western border to their core, leaving average citizens and the entire Oak Park Police Department stunned and grieving.

For the past week since Reddins’ death, people have left flowers and notes at a concrete table outside the main library, just west of Scoville Park. One person offered a thank you from Oak Park’s citizens, printed in marker on a large sheet of orange construction paper: “Thank You, Officer Detective Reddins For Keeping Our Streets Safe. RIP.”

The heartfelt wishes extended to the law enforcement community. An unsigned, handwritten note amidst the flowers outside the library read, “The entire law enforcement community misses you dearly brother, your steadfast courage and love for the community served did not go unnoticed, you’re truly loved and missed.”

Erin Fountain of Oak Park writes on a condolence card honoring Detective Allan Reddins at Friday night’s candlelight ceremony. (Photo by Bill Dwyer/for Chronicle Media)

Speaking Friday before the ceremony started, Village President Vicki Scaman said the entire village shared the grief of Reddins’ fellow officers and his family.

“My heart and soul go out to (his) family,” she said. Standing before the somber assemblage that included former village president Anan Abu-Taleb and various elected officials, Scaman said that all present were “filled with sadness and overcome with sorrow.”

“We mourn together with all of you, and share in your condolences,” she said. “Detective Reddins’ dedication to protecting our community, his courage and his unwavering commitment to justice, will forever be remembered. Together we vow that his sacrifice will not be forgotten, and his legacy will continue to inspire us all, as we work together to build a safer, stronger Oak Park.”

Oak Park, Scaman said, has “an outstanding police department, and a remarkable chief of police.” She then introduced Chief Shatonya Johnson, who began by inviting “all my brothers and sisters in law enforcement” to step forward and gather around and behind her as she spoke.

“(You) weren’t expecting this, but I need you all up here,” she said.

“I want you to see and recognize the men and women of our police department that get up every day to come in and serve to protect you all,” she told the crowd. “We all are struggling together.”

Johnson thanked every person who took the time to stand in the cold to celebrate Reddins’ life and service. She called the gathering a “pivotal moment in our history, to come together and to be united as one.”

“We have received an outpour of love and support,” Johnson said. “In the form of emails, text messages, telephone calls, silent prayers, food, flowers, and the list goes on and on and on.

A flag honoring slain Oak Park Police Detective Allan Reddins hangs from an Oak Park Fire Department ladder truck Friday night. (Photo by Bill Dwyer/for Chronicle Media)

“We will not be the same,” she said of the Oak Park Police Department. “My prayer is that we will be stronger, we’re going to work harder, we’re going to be safer than ever.

“It is deeply personal to the men and women of our police department that detective Reddins made the ultimate sacrifice while serving and protecting alongside his brothers and sisters. And for that we will forever be indebted to him and his family.”

Johnson vowed to recover and move forward, in concert with the public.

“As we put these pieces back together, because we will, following a senseless act of violence, we asked for continuous effort (from) all of you in strengthening our partnership as a community, to keep our officers safe and to keep our community safe.”

Erin Fountain was one of those present to thank Reddins and the Oak Park Police Department for all they did to assist her family during what she termed “the worst time of our lives.”

Around four years ago, her son Ellis, then 19, went missing for five days. He’d been robbed, beaten, and held against his will, and spent two weeks in the hospital.

“They were by our sides every day,” Fountain said of the Oak Park Police Department. When the case was resolved and Ellis was back safe with his family, she said, an Oak Park Police commander brought her to Reddins and told her, “if anyone messes with your son, this is your guy.”

“He was his mentor, his protector,” Fountain said of Reddins. “That’s who Reddins was for him.”

Ellis Fountain, a big but gentle man, now 23, who’d been a victim of bullying growing up, said Reddins was “not just an officer, he was our officer. He was a friend and a brother to me.”

Another vigil will take place on Tuesday night outside St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church on South East Avenue, sponsored by Moms Demand Action Oak Park-Austin Area and other local groups.

Meanwhile, Erin Fountain alluded to the too often ephemeral nature of the blessings in our lives, and the pain of losing someone like Reddins.

“We thought he’d be around a lot longer,” she said quietly.