“When I was a young boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”
-Fred Rogers

Great wisdom from Mr. Rogers.

Early Thursday morning, sadly, we woke up to scary things in our local news.

Luckily, we also had helpers.

Led by Sheriff Jeff Lawless, the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, Lawrence County Drug & Major Crimes Task Force, local police, EMT personnel, Rock Hill Elementary staff, along with other area first responders all banded together to keep a tragedy from escalating further in our area.

“Protect and Serve” is a motto that many police agencies use across our nation. Locally, it is more than a motto. It is exactly what happened over the past few days, as local, Ohio and neighboring states’ law enforcement agencies responded to the scene of a quadruple murder, patrolled the area to protect the public as the suspect was on the run and, finally, apprehended him on Friday.

More than 100 officers were on scene, including those from the West Virginia State Police and the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, who sent helicopters. Also on hand from West Virginia, was the Barboursville Police Department, who brought their bloodhound to help track the suspect.

U.S. Marshals were present, as well as officers from every village and town in Lawrence County, the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the Gallia County Sheriff’s Office, the Ashland Police Department and the Huntington Police Department.

Please take the time to thank all of our area’s first responders.

We are lucky that they are all so dedicated to keeping us safe.