Marshall County Sheriff Kevin Byars said his life and the lives of his officers will never be the same since the events on this day, one month ago, when a student at Marshall County High School opened fire on classmates, killing two and injuring more than a dozen.
Byars said the shooting was something his office knew could happen, but never thought it would happen. “A lot of us were quite emotional over it, a lot of us are still angry. Those are the normal emotions we’re going to go through and like I said, we will never be the same.” Byars said.
Byars said The Kentucky Community Crisis Response Board is providing counseling services to his department. He said the emotional and mental wellbeing of his officers is important to him.
“I’m hoping the mystique of law enforcement... y’know ‘we’re strong, we need to check our emotions at the door’ type thing...I hope that’s slowly going away because it has been detrimental to our profession.” Byars said.
Byars said law enforcement often deals with issues that include suicide and divorce. He also though not specifically in his office, PTSD is not uncommon among members of the law enforcement community.
He said the KCCRB has held two sessions with his office since the shooting and will probably be back for another session soon.
The community has rallied together in the weeks since the shooting under the slogan ‘Marshall Strong,’ still prominently displayed on buildings and billboards.
