HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — The flags outside the Locust Grove Police Department have been lowered to half-staff after one of their own was killed in the line of duty Friday.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Officer Chase Maddox, 26, was killed when he responded for backup to two Henry County Sheriff’s Office deputies who were serving a failure to appear warrant.
The suspect opened fire on the three men, killing Maddox and injuring Deputies Michael Corley and Ralph Sidwell "Sid" Callaway.
Channel 2's Justin Wilfon stopped by the Sheriff's Office on Friday evening, where he found a family who had stopped to say a prayer for Maddox.
“So that his family will know that people in Locust Grove do care,” one of them said.
The family also left balloons in honor of the officer.
[READ: Brother of deputy injured in shooting: 'Please just pray']
Wilfon also spoke with Ronnie Deaton, who was one of Maddox’s best friends. He served as best man at the young officer’s wedding.
“(I’m in) total disbelief. Shock couldn’t really put any words to it,” Deaton said about the death of his friend. “He was the life of the party, to say the least. When we graduated, we never would have thought he would be a police officer.”
Deaton told Wilfon that Maddox’s wife is expecting their second son any day now – a child who will never know his father.
[READ: Neighborhood on edge after officer killed serving warrant]
“Couldn’t say enough wonderful things for somebody like Chase,” Deaton said.
Maddox was a five-year veteran of the Locust Grove Police Department and the first officer to join the force directly out of school, the city's mayor confirmed to Channel 2 Action News.
Mayor Robert Price said Maddox was one of the best officers on the force and called him “a smart young man.”
There is no word at this point about funeral arrangements.
Investigators said Maddox's body has been taken to the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur where an autopsy will be performed Saturday morning.
A GoFundMe page has been created if you'd like to help the family.