OCEAN GATE, N.J. (AP) -- Fellow officers and residents are mourning the death of a small-town New Jersey police officer with impromptu memorials and a candlelight vigil.

Thirty-two-year-old Ocean Gate Officer Jason Marles was killed early Thanksgiving morning on the Garden State Parkway when his Jeep was struck from behind by an alleged drunken driver.

The nine-year veteran was headed home after working a holiday anti-drunken driving detail. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.

On Friday, a wooden cross and bouquets of flowers stood at the crash site. More floral arrangements covered a police vehicle parked outside police headquarters in the Ocean County shore town of 2,000 near Toms River.

A candlelight vigil was planned for Friday night.

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