Mourners paid their final respects Thursday to a cop whose life was allegedly cut short by three ex-convicts in Brooklyn.

Thousands of police officers attended Officer Russel Timoshenko's funeral, turning the streets outside Flatbush's I.J. Morris funeral home into a sea of blue. Music and prayers piped through speakers to accommodate the large crowd outside.

Timoshenko, 23, was remembered as an energetic cop who rose through the ranks, first patrolling high-crime areas in Operation Impact before moving to the 71st Precinct.Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Timoshenko would be honored for his efforts. "As a small measure of our appreciation ... we are posthumously promoting him to the rank of detective," Bloomberg said at the funeral.

Timoshenko's flag-draped coffin was taken to his final resting place on Staten Island, where he grew up.

The officer died July 14 from gunshot wounds to his head, which he received in a Crown Heights traffic stop of a stolen SUV July 9. Dexter Bostic, Robert Ellis and Lee Woods face murder charges in the incident.

AP wire reports contributed to this story.To view the entire service for Officer Russel Timoshenko, go to channel 612 on your iO digital cable box and select iO Extra.Related information: