SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. — Family, friends and fellow first responders are mourning the loss of a Spalding County deputy who was killed in the line of duty.
Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said on Friday morning, Sgt. Marc McIntyre was shot while responding to a domestic disturbance call and welfare check with another deputy.
McIntyre was a Spalding County Sheriff’s Office supervisor and an Army veteran who returned to the area to serve his community.
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“This supervisor was one of those guys who, every time you saw him, would smile. Would call your name from across the parking lot,” an emotional Dix told reporters at the scene. “He was a deputy who definitely led by example.”
According to Dix, as the two deputies crossed the yard, a man inside the home, identified as Todd Lamont Harper, fired a shot through a window, striking McIntyre in the head.
“It is always too soon to say goodbye,” Judge Josh Thacker wrote on Facebook. “You have been an amazing member of the Spalding County Team. You were a wonderful leader and human being. Words cannot begin to express our gratitude to you for your exemplary service to the United States of America and your sacrifice you made today for Spalding County.”
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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp also expressed sorrow for the fallen deputy on social media.
“Marty, the girls, and I ask that all Georgians join us in praying for the loved ones of this fallen hero,” he wrote. “Our thoughts will remain with his family and fellow law enforcement officers following this tragedy.”
Harper was taken into custody after an hours-long standoff involving multiple law enforcement agencies.
“He continued to tell us he knew where all of us lived and that he was going to kill us all,” Dix said. “We transported him away, and he is currently in custody in my jail, where he will stay. He killed my deputy. He’s going to sit in my jail.”
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McIntyre’s body was escorted from Wellstar Hospital in Spalding to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab.
Numerous officers from multiple jurisdictions were at the hospital to pay their respects.
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