Woburn Police Chief Philip Mahoney said Maguire returned fire when he was shot at Sunday night by a robbery suspect who was trying to escape through a blizzard.

“That night Jack Maguire stood up. As far as I’m concerned, this man was running into the neighborhoods. And Jack Maguire stopped that man,” said Police Chief Philip Mahoney. “He gave his life for the city of Woburn and the citizens.”

Mahoney recalled that Maguire began his career in 1977, a year before Maguire’s father, the police chief, retired after 28 years of service. “I’m sure Jack is up there with his mother and father right now,” he said in an emotional speech at the Shriners Auditorium.

Speaking for the family, one of Maguire’s cousins told the assembly, which officials said included more than 2,000 police officers, that Maguire was a “unique person from when he was a little boy” with a “wicked sense of humor.”

Mourner Jim Day, 72, a Maguire family friend, before the ceremony described the officer as a devoted family man and a loyal friend.

“He was always there for everybody,” he said.

He said Maguire was a calm presence on the streets, who tried to defuse situations before they escalated.

“He could often solve a problem without having to make an arrest. That’s the sign of a good police officer,” he said.

Maguire, 60, was married and a father of three.

The mourners included US Senator Scott Brown, Governor Deval Patrick and other dignitaries.

The ceremony was marked by its size and solemnity. A long line of officers stood ramrod-straight at attention in their dress uniforms with white gloves clasped behind their backs to greet the funeral procession. A deep silence reigned, except for the distant chopping of the blades of a helicopter. The officers then marched into the auditorium for the service, filling row after row of seats.

Several officers said outside that they were saddened and expressed their sympathies to the family, but were personally angry that the suspected murderer of Maguire had been released on parole.

Day said the family was also deeply upset. “They’re very concerned as naturally they would be,” he said.

The release of Dominic Cinelli by the Massachusetts Parole Board has sparked controversy. Cinelli was killed himself in the shootout with Maguire who was responding to a report of a robbery at the Kohl’s department store.