CHARLOTTE, N.C., Dec. 7, 2019 – A small team of Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (RRT) chaplains are ministering in Huntsville, Alabama, this weekend after the shooting death of police officer Billy Clardy III on Friday afternoon.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of Officer Clardy being killed while serving and protecting his Huntsville community,” said Jack Munday, international director of the RRT. “Officer Clardy was a personal friend to one of our RRT chaplains, who is now ministering to the officer’s family and the department, while also caring for his own son who serves on the Huntsville Police Department. As we pray for God’s hope and comfort, this tragic loss hits close to home.”
Clardy’s death marked the sixth law enforcement officer killed in Alabama in 2019, the most in the state in the last six years.
The deployment is the second RRT deployment in as many days after four chaplains arrived in Pensacola on Saturday morning following a shooting at the Naval Air Station.
For more information on the ministry, including videos, photos, news articles and an interactive map of former and current deployments, visit BillyGraham.org/RRT. Updates can also be found at Facebook.com/RRTChaplains.
About the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team:
The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team was developed by Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It has since grown into an international network of chaplains in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia who are specifically trained to deal with crisis situations. They have deployed to more than 400 disaster sites across the globe, including shootings, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.
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Media Contact:
Blake Freeland
704-401-2124
bfreeland@bgea.org