Hundreds line route to honor fallen deputy
Published 12:53 pm Thursday, June 1, 2017
Submitted photo Lila Pate, Jayden Sandifer, Bentlee and Trey Sandifer, and Canaa Pate wait alongside Hwy. 51 for the funeral procession of Deputy William Durr.
Outside Easthaven Baptist Church.
Sheriff Steve Rushing's badge is covered with a black band that includes William Durr's badge number.
They stood in the hot sun for hours. They brought flags and signs and chairs. Some were babies, some were old. They hugged. They wiped tears. They saluted.
Hundreds of Lincoln County residents stood alongside Hwy. 51 to honor Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy William Durr Thursday. They stood alongside Fox Road, near Lee Road where Durr was killed by a man accused of killing seven others in a shooting spree.
They watched as hundreds of motorcycles and law enforcement vehicles drove past them on the way to Moak’s Creek Baptist Church where Durr was buried.
They stood at attention for at least 10 minutes — that’s how long it took for the vehicles to file past them.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my 86 years,” Idelle Magee said. “It was something else. They were from everywhere.”
There were officers from Louisiana, Tunica, Hinds County and every agency from Southwest Mississippi. There were too many to keep track of. They all led the way to the church, down Hwy. 51 where they passed under large American flags hung over the road.
Henry Carlisle, 89, placed flags alongside Fox Road. They were some of the hundreds, if not thousands, that dotted the route to the church.
“It took more than I thought,” he said about placing the flags on his stretch of roadway. He stood at attention with family as the funeral procession drove past.
Officers lined the opposite lane of Fox Road as the body of Durr made its way down Fox Road. They saluted as the vehicle carrying his casket passed by.
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