In Centennial Park, prayers go up for officers slain in Charlotte

Details: Lance Martin; News; 01 May 2024; 2870

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On the day after four officers in the Charlotte area were shot and killed while serving an arrest warrant, Roanoke Rapids police Chief Shane Guyant called for a community prayer service Tuesday at Centennial Park to remember them and four survivors.

“My heart was broken yesterday on my return trip from Nashville, Tennessee with my wife for her 50th birthday,” he said. “I saw it on the news at the airport and I was just as heartbroken as I could be. Thirty of years of doing this job I’ve seen this happen several times and I kind of wanted to do something for our community to show our support to Charlotte-Mecklenberg, to the department of public safety and to the U.S. Marshals for their losses.”

He said the last 24 hours “have truly been heartbreaking for so many people across our state. We will continue to support our brothers and sisters in blue as much as we can. We will provide them a shoulder to cry on or whatever we can to navigate through yesterday’s tragic act on law enforcement officers.”

The police chief said the police department offers prayers for the family and friends of Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Joshua Eyer, North Carolina Department of Correction officers Sam Poloche and William Elliott and U.S. Deputy Marshall Thomas Weeks. “These four men made the ultimate sacrifice. Their lives and service will never be forgotten.”

The local department also offered prayers for the recovery of CMPD officers Christopher Tolley, Michael Giglio, Jack Blowers and Justin Campbell, who WSOC reported was not shot but was treated for a broken leg.

“Today is a somber occasion but one we hope can bring some semblance of peace through prayer,” Guyant said. “Prayer, despite your faith, is a way to ask for comfort and care for those who have to deal with the aftermath of tragedy.”

As a chief executive in other areas of law enforcement, Guyant said he has lost officers under his command. “I had a civilian person that was murdered in the city of Charlotte and I remember that like it was yesterday and the comfort that we felt from outside agencies was very much helpful in the grieving process. Please don’t forget to pray for the four officers who survived yesterday because they’re going to undergo something called survivor’s guilt and I can tell you it’s a real thing where they survived and their brothers did not and then they ask the question why not me? They’re going to have many trials and tribulations. They go through these hurdles, these stresses and strains from post traumatic stress that they have had to overcome.”

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Greg Page, chaplain of the police department, said when heard the news he thought of the story of the Good Samaritan. “What do we say to the officers, what do we say to the fire officers that go in burning buildings. The parable just reminded me of why we do what we do because we’re the Samaritans, we’re the ones that people don’t think much of sometimes. The Samaritans of that day and time were thought of as dogs. They were thought of as lower class.”

The Levite who passed by the injured victim of a robbery was a picture of the world — all the money one could have. “The priest, unfortunately, was a picture of the religion of the day. They didn’t want anything to do with the guy but the Samaritan stopped and picked him up, cared for him and took care of him. That’s why we do what we do. That’s why you do what you do every day.”

Said Page: “The greatest commandment of all is love your neighbor as yourself. That’s what it’s all about.”

He said the four slain officers didn’t know that morning when they suited up that they wouldn’t be coming home. “One young man had a 3-year-old son, the others had children as well. All I can do is encourage you that the reason we do what we do is because we love people and we want to protect and serve.”

Law enforcement, he said, is a calling. “If you’re not called then we need to talk because there’s a reason you do what you do and that’s because you love people and you want to help them to make this a better community than what it is. I would just encourage you to love one another as you love yourselves. I guarantee you God’s going to provide whatever the outcome is.”

The reality, he told the audience, which included several law enforcement officers, is they could be the next ones who suit up and don’t come back. “We don’t know what the future holds but we do know who holds the future and we know there’s a plan for all of us. All we can do is pray for each other and be that one that stops beside the road and picks up the one that needs it.”

In introducing Jason Yeatts, pastor of East Tenth Street Church Christ and Orin Perry, pastor of the House of Mandate, Guyant said, “In this time of what’s going on, not just in Charlotte, but around the world, these two gentlemen have been very good counsel to me since I have been chief of police here.”

Yeatts, who also serves as chaplain of the city fire department, said Page said what was on his mind. “These were men who suited up. They didn’t know that they weren’t coming home that night. My prayer was for their families. These are families who are going to have to take it day by day and for those that were injured it was the same thought and prayer — get them through their recovery, get them out of the hospital and then watch over them as they heal both bodily, both physically but also spiritually and emotionally in the months and years to come.”

He said following the news from Charlotte he thought “about our armed officers and I thought of our fire department who have a special place in my heart. These are guys and some are ladies who go into harm’s way every day. There is danger in our city like there is in every city. I am grateful for everyone that goes into harm’s way either into property and into situations that are dangerous.”

Perry said, “In every warrior there is a child, in every Superman there’s a Clark Kent, there’s a Bruce Wayne in every Batman and there’s a brokenness in each one of us. We can’t get enough prayer. We want to pray that God will protect us and we will not have to hear the cries that we’ve been hearing all over the world — that God will continue to strengthen us and give us one mind and one spirit and unity.”

In closing the service Guyant said, “We need prayer every day of our life. We have a really cruel world right now. It’s been a cruel world throughout history. We can overcome that cruelty with love and compassion.”

He said, “In this city, this police department, this moment, this time, we are committed to you, doing the right thing, but today we are committed to remembering four young men who died in the line of duty while protecting their community in Charlotte as well as four other young men … It’s an unimaginable thing to have to go through this as a chief executive. I have talked to the chief in Charlotte this morning and I told him there’s not much we can provide in resources that Charlotte doesn’t already have but I wanted him to know that we were doing this today and that we had them in our prayers and he was very appreciative.

“Please continue to love our city. Our city means everything to us and we will continue doing our part, doing everything the right way, the way it should be done.”

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