An Alabama sheriff was fatally shot in the line of duty Saturday evening in a county near the state capital city, Gov. Kay Ivey said.
Ivey tweeted that Lowndes County Sheriff John Williams was “a pillar of the community.” Ivey offered prayers and sympathy to his family and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department.
The county is southwest of Montgomery, the state’s capital.
Details weren’t immediately clear. Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham told news outlets that Williams was shot at a gas station in the county seat of Hayneville.
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency spokesman Cpl. Jess Thornton told reporters the State Bureau of Investigations was en route to the county.
Ivey’s tweet paid tribute to Williams, saying in his past years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps and “his many years working in law enforcement, he dedicated his life to keeping other people safe.”