The five-year-old son of a police officer in Terre Haute, Indiana, who was killed in the line of duty was presented with a police badge in honor of his father.

On May 8, the fallen officer’s son, Dakota, visited the department and was presented with the badge by Terre Haute Police Department Sgt. Bill Sheldon, according to Fox 59.

Dakota released a message on Monday saying he believed it will help his dad see him from Heaven. The message read, “Dear Dad, I love you and I miss you so much.”

Officer Rob Pitts was shot and killed when a suspect opened fire on police as officers arrived to arrest him at an apartment complex on May 4. Pitts, a 16-year veteran of the force, was a member of a four-officer team attempting to take the homicide suspect into custody.

The suspect ambushed officers as they approached the apartment building by firing on officers from a second-floor window. He then barricaded himself in his apartment, giving up several hours later when police breached the apartment by using a ladder to climb through a window.

Officer Pitts is the first Terre Haute officer to die in service since Officer Brent D. Long was killed while serving an arrest warrant on July 11, 2011.

Pitts’s funeral is May 9 and will be held at the Hulman Center at ISU.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.