Cop killed in line of duty. His fellow officers comfort his 5-year-old son in biggest way possible.

No less than 70 policemen escorted a 5-year-old Indiana boy to school on his first day back after his father, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty.

What's the background?

Terre Haute Police Officer Rob Pitts was killed in the line of duty earlier this month after a shootout with a homicide suspect.

The suspect was also killed in the shootout.

Rob, a 16-year veteran of the force, left behind a wife and his 5-year-old son, Dakota.

According to CBS News, Pitts was the first Terre Haute officer to die since 2011.

What did officers do for young Dakota?

Dakota returned to school Monday and didn't want to go alone. So he asked his mother if one of his father's fellow officers could accompany him to the school.

"Dakota asked his mom if one of his dad's friends could take him to school, so she reached out to Rob's friends and families," Les Hamm, a detective with Terre Haute Police Department, told WTHI-TV.

Dakota was greeted by at least 70 of his father's fellow brothers in blue as one of the officers walked him up the sidewalk to Sullivan Elementary School in western Indiana.

Officers came from all over the state to greet Dakota for his first day back to school.

"Welcome back to school, bud," one of the officers told him.

Several of the officers came forward and presented Dakota with small tokens such as a T-shirt and a police patch.

Video of the welcoming was shared on Facebook on Monday, and has been viewed more than 38,000 times.

Anything else?

Pro-police Indiana charity "Indiana Going Blue" has started an online fundraiser to benefit the Pitts family.

At the time of this writing, the GoFundMe page has received $260 in donations.