Sgt. Marc McIntyre: A Spalding County sergeant remembered for leadership, compassion
Investigator Marc McIntyre is congratulated by Spalding County Sheriffs Darrell Dix for five years of service on July 31, 2020. (Spalding County Sheriffs Office)
GRIFFIN, Ga. - The identity of the Spalding County sheriff's deputy shot and killed in the line of duty on Friday has been released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Sgt. Marc McIntyre, 55, was not just a law enforcement officer, but a military veteran and educator.
Sgt. McIntyre served with the Spalding County Sheriffs’ Office for 8-and-a-half years. He moved up through the ranks, eventually becoming a supervisor in the patrol division and a SWAT team member.
"I have an entire shift of deputies who worked with this supervisor who are absolutely devastated," said Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix during a press conference on Friday afternoon.
The sheriff described him as a guy who lit up the whole room when he walked in.
"This supervisor was one of those guys, every time you saw him, he was smiling, he would call your name across the parking lot just to say 'hey' to you," the sheriff said. "He had a command presence about him, and the people who worked with him on his shift, they loved him."
SPALDING COUNTY DEPUTY DIES AFTER BEING SHOT IN GRIFFIN, STANDOFF OVER
Deputy Marc McIntyre, left, along with Colt Taylor, Nicholas Gatlin, and Maurice Gray are sworn in by Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix after they graduated Mandate on Sept. 25, 2017 (Spalding County Sheriff's Office)
McIntyre would join the Army in 1988, first serving in the U.S. Army’s 5th Ranger Training Battalion at Fort Benning. There he would serve as a rifleman in the Ranger Support Element, battalion armorer, and assistant munitions NCO.
In 1991, he would be shipped overseas to Berlin as the Berlin Wall was being dismantled. Serving as a team leader in the USAREUR and the 7th Army, he would oversee escorting highly classified materials and the guarding of sensitive facilities. He would also be assigned to the protection of special dignitaries.
During his time in Germany, he would compete and win a silver medal in a pistol/rifle annual competition against 16 NATO countries. He was also only one of eight soldiers to be awarded the German Marine Corps weapons qualification badge.
Sgt. Marc McIntyre wears a Hawaiian shirt covered by a tactical vest during a special operations arrest with the Spalding County Sheriff's Office on Aug. 22, 2019. (Spalding County Sheriff's Office)
McIntyre could come back to the States in 1994 to be a squad leader of 10 soldiers overseeing the security at several highly sensitive Army installations in metro Atlanta stationed out of Fort McPherson.
It was likely during this decade of his life he learned honor and respect go hand-in-hand.
"He had their backs," Sheriff Dix said, referring to how McIntyre treated the deputies on his shift. "If they were wrong, he would tell them they were wrong. But if they were right, he was going to tell them they were right and was going to support them."
Spalding County deputy killed during welfare check
A Spalding County sheriff's deputy has been shot and killed during a gun battle during a welfare check on Deason Street. Sheriff Darrell Dix identifies the gunman as Todd Lamont Harper, a man with a history of mental health issues. He was arrested after a SWAT standoff and booked into jail.
After being honorably discharged, he would move to New York, where he took a job as a school supply coordinator for about two years for the New York City school district. He would then change gears, becoming a paraprofessional for 9-and-a-half years.
Throughout his whole life, Sheriff Dix says he was a leader.
"He was a deputy that definitely led by example," the sheriff said.
Deputy Marc McIntyre, stands next to Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix, in white, after he and Colt Taylor, Nicholas Gatlin, and Maurice Gray are sworn on Sept. 25, 2017. (Spalding County Sheriff's Office)
During the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office awards dinner earlier this month, Sgt. McIntyre posted a photo of a life-saving award the sheriff had bestowed on him that year for saving a homeless man who was overdosing by treating him with Narcan.
In a post to his LinkedIn page, Sgt. McIntyre also explained how he had received the same award the previous year for helping to save the life of a person who was shot in a drive-by.
"Proper training & a whole lot of luck (right place at critical times) saves lives," McIntyre wrote in the post.
"Goodbye Marc," wrote Spalding County State Court Judge Josh Thacker. "You have been an amazing member of the Spalding County Team. You were a wonderful leader and human being. Words cannot begin to express our gratitude to you for your exemplary service to the United States of America and your sacrifice you made today for Spalding County."
Beloved Sgt. Marc McIntyre killed in the line of duty
Sgt. Marc McIntyre was not just a law enforcement officer, but a military veteran and educator. The 55-year-old sergeant was once again trying to help someone on Friday when he and another deputy pulled up to a home on Deason Street in Griffin. However, Sheriff Dix said this time, he was killed trying to perform a welfare check on 57-year-old Todd Lamont Harper.
The 55-year-old sergeant was once again trying to help someone on Friday when he and another deputy pulled up to a home on Deason Street in Griffin. However, Sheriff Dix said this time, he was killed trying to perform a welfare check on 57-year-old Todd Lamont Harper.
Funeral services and memorials for the late sergeant have not yet been announced.