‘Outpouring of people’: Memorial along I-20 pays tribute to slain Columbia County deputy
EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A memorial continued to grow on Monday along Interstate 20 where a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office deputy was killed Saturday evening.
The memorial includes a cross as well as flowers that are being placed by people drawn to the site near Belair Road, where Deputy Brandon Sikes was killed and Deputy Gavin White was shot in the face.
They had stopped an RV to serve a temporary protective order against James Blake Montgomery – who’d by some accounts been on a downward spiral and was making pipe bombs and altering guns to operate in fully automatic mode.
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Saturday evening’s shooting rocked the CSRA and left many questioning how the incident transpired and when we would learn more.
Montgomery used one of those altered guns to shoot the deputies.
Between the flowers, the donations and a meal train, our community has stood up in support of these families dealing with so much hurt.
“My initial reaction was that it was a heartbreaking, catastrophic event,” said Corey Lichtenberg, community supporter.
“Communities rally and support each other in tough times, and I think the silver lining in events like this is the fact that people do band together and come together and out together,” said Lichtenberg. “I call them the small differences and matters of opinion for the greater good. My hope is that one day it’s not events like what happened Saturday night being required to bring people together.”
Lichtenberg is working to show support for the deputies’ loved ones.
“I’ve gone by I-20 where the events happened, and I started donating to the meal train, so it’s immediate relief for the families, and it’s really just been an outpouring of people not really knowing what the best course of action is to take to be supportive,” said Lichtenberg.
Many community members are showing that love and support in all kinds of ways, through memorials, meal trains, social media posts and more.
“Love and tolerance,” said Lichtenberg. “People watch what we do in hard times, and it’s the example we set in those times that people really mimic, especially the younger generations. There’s so much violence going on, and the only way that really gets combated is by people not willing to let it win.”
One of the first people to place flowers at the site was Bethanny Troia. She, her husband, Tommy and Lichtenburg made their way to the side of the interstate and placed flowers between a bolt and a barrier on the guardrail. She thinks it would be great to fill the whole guardrail.
She chose artificial flowers, which will last longer. Other flowers at the site appear to be real.
“We started this beautiful ... thing to honor, and thank the fallen, wounded, responding officers, all three departments and their families for their daily service and sacrifices. Let’s honor them as they honored us day in and day out,” she told News 12.
She said she’s been praying out loud since she learned about the incident soon after it happened around 6:25 p.m. Saturday.
“Columbia County officers had to deliver the horrible news of my mother’s murder and they have been protecting and serving not only myself and family but our entire community and then some,” she said. “Our CC officers and the surrounding areas are some of the best in the nation in my opinion. We are so thankful and our hearts are beyond broken. This is a tragedy that I don’t think any of us saw coming. Let’s honor them as they honored us day in and day out.”
People tell us that they only expect the memorial to grow as more people show their support.
Also standing in memorial to Sikes is a wreath at the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office headquarters.
Black ribbons include his name, badge number and the date of his death – or “end of watch.”
Black bands are also being worn across law enforcement badges and are being displayed on law enforcement websites across the state in sympathy.
Other law enforcement agencies and leaders across the region are also expressing their thoughts.
Montgomery died in his RV – possibly from the gunfire officers returned – which authorities later confirmed was full of pipe bombs, explosives paraphernalia and ammunition.
He and his wife were estranged and he’d been living in the RV at a state park, News 12 has learned.
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