Following a shooting at a Huntsville apartment complex, two Alabama police officers were shot and, sadly, one of them died.
The loss of this officer is a great tragedy for the community of Huntsville, the State of Alabama and our department, said HPD Chief Kirk Giles.
The officer’s family is going through a difficult time and we offer our deepest condolences as they mourn their loved one, who made the ultimate sacrifice.
While we mourn with the family of the deceased officer, another officer is currently fighting for his life.
The chief has asked that everyone keep our officers and the entire department in their thoughts and prayers.
Officer Garrett Crumby, who was tragically killed, was identified by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. Officer Albert Morin, who was injured, has also been identified.
Marshall expressed the state’s grief for the loss of another law enforcement officer, who bravely responded to a domestic violence emergency call and risked her life to help a female victim.
According to Marshall, Constables Crumby and Morin were ambushed by an armed suspect, 24-year-old Juan Robert Laws, who was charged with the capital murder of a law enforcement officer and was incarcerated in the Madison County before 11 p.m.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is investigating the fatal shooting.
Laws is being held without bond, according to recent Alabama court records showing his plea of guilty to a misdemeanor from 2022 for carrying an unlicensed firearm.
As part of his conviction, the gun was to be turned over to the state. Additionally, in 2022, he was charged with two counts of second-degree assault on two people.
Despite his waiver of a preliminary hearing, those cases were assigned last month to go to a grand jury for possible indictment.
In 2020, Crumby became a member of the Huntsville Police Department after serving with the Tuscaloosa Police Department from 2013 until leaving for Huntsville.
Recently, he was praised along with other officers for helping someone who needed a ride home from a grocery store on a rainy night.
Crumby made the decision to offer the man a ride, as he was going to have to walk on a busy road in inclement weather conditions.
Although Crumby was the first Alabama police officer to die on duty this year, he was the third to be shot in the line of duty.
This recent incident is a reminder of the bravery shown by law enforcement officials who form the “thin blue line”, which separates life and death from the citizens they pledge to protect, as stated by Marshall. Despite the dangers they face, these officers responded to a domestic violence call knowing they were risking their lives to defend their community.
We must never underestimate their service and sacrifice. The previous Huntsville police officer killed on duty was Billy Fred Clardy III on December 6, 2019, during a drug bust at a residence on Levert Street northeast of Huntsville, where he was one of several police officers present.
According to Deputy Chief Michael Johnson, a call reporting gunfire at an apartment complex in the 4600 block of Governors House Drive was received by Huntsville police around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday.
The caller informed authorities that she had been shot, and police found her at the scene upon arrival. She was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Johnson said.
Johnson previously said the officers were also shot by an assailant early in the call. Mayor Tommy Battle expressed his grief for the city of Huntsville and the police department, saying it was a painful night for them.
He expressed condolences and gratitude for the community’s outpouring of support and expressed the city’s solidarity with the officers and their families during this difficult time.
On Tuesday evening, Madison County Coroner Dr. Tyler Berryhill will transport Crumby’s body to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Huntsville, where an autopsy will be performed Wednesday morning.
A video widely circulated on social media, which has been shared nearly 30,000 times, appears to show paramedics administering life-saving treatment to one officer and providing medical assistance to the other injured officer outside a building. In the footage, residents of the complex can be heard telling officers that a woman and children are still inside the apartment.
Officers are then seen running towards the apartment with their weapons drawn, according to the video. In the footage, officers are shown carrying one of the children wrapped in a blanket as a woman hands another child to an officer from a window. The video also shows several residents fleeing the building.
Police officials expressed their gratitude to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and the Madison Police Department for their assistance in responding to calls in the city of Huntsville as HPD officers mourn the devastating loss in a statement. Press.
The department also requested that the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) conduct the investigation.