Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch says the Dallas police officers who were gunned down Thursday night were not "just a bunch of faceless uniforms" but "individuals that chose to protect and serve their community."
Five officers were killed and several others wounded when, police say, a sniper, who was later killed during a standoff with police, opened fire on officers during a protest of fatal police-involved shootings in Minnesota and Louisana.
"This morning America awoke with a heavy heart in the wake of last night’s tragedy in Dallas, Texas," Couch said in a statement released by his office Friday afternoon. "Not since 9/11 has our country suffered a one-time loss of so many peace officers."
Couch went on to say "As details emerge and the whole picture becomes clearer, there will be endless discussion about the root causes, the motives, the planning and calculation, co-conspirators, the effect this will have on our country, etc. The debates and arguments, facts and theories, finger pointing and shouting will continue for weeks and weeks. Some of these things are a necessary part of the discussion and vital to finding a solution, but as happens in many events of this magnitude, something very important gets lost. Regardless of all that rhetoric, at the base of it all there are five families grieving the loss of their loved ones, and the families of seven others praying for the recovery of theirs."
The sheriff said they were people who strapped on a gun and badge every day and went out to deal with a world "most of us know only from distorted Hollywood portrayals."
These were people, he said, who made a choice at some point in their lives that they didn’t want to live "in the gray area; that they would instead side squarely on the right side of things and strive to make their small part of the world a better place. They served as part a patchwork overlay of such men and women across the nation, forming a blanket of protection for all of us. Today, there are five holes in that patchwork and our country is less for it."
Couch said Hall County is blessed to have men and women who put on the uniform every day and do their own small part. "As your sheriff, it’s my privilege to lead those men and women. Together, we all stand in support of our fellow officers in Dallas, and ask that we all pray for the families of those fallen officers and their comrades."
