Annual ceremony honors fallen officers of Lexington County
LEXINGTON, SC (WOLO) — Lexington County law enforcement held an annual ceremony Thursday morning honoring the lives of fellow officers who died in the line of duty.
The memorial recognized 18 Lexington County officers who were killed while serving their communities — dating all the way back to 1897.
The day also pays tribute to the most recent death of Corporal Drew Barr with the Cayce Police Department, who died while responding to a domestic dispute in 2022.
“My son was very outgoing. Always trying to help somebody, and he will never be forgotten,” says Sonia Barr, Corporal Barr’s mother.
Those lost — never forgotten, and those still serving remain in the community’s thoughts — says Attorney General Alan Wilson.
“But everyday they put that badge and that gun on, and they head to work, and that might be the day they have to run into harm’s way. Most of us don’t know what that’s like to wake up everyday with that hanging over you,” Wilson says.
“Anytime you put the badge on, you know when you leave the house, you may not come home. And it’s something we’ve all lived with and accepted and run towards danger when citizens run away from it, so it’s our calling and it’s what we do, but we do know and understand that one day our number may be called and we may be called to lay down our life in the line of duty,” says Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon.
Koon calls the unwavering community support found in Lexington County simply amazing.
“And it’s like none other. When I talk to friends and colleagues around the country, what we have here is truly special, and we cherish that and we work on it daily and we appreciate it so much,” he says.
And through that support, the event has continued now for 12 years.
“We celebrate their lives, we remember what they stood for, what they meant to us, what they meant to the community, what they meant to their family, and their sacrifice is just something we should never forget,” says Cayce Chief of Police Chris Cowan.
