CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 14, 2021 – The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team (BG-RRT) is deploying chaplains to Big Stone Gap, Virginia, to provide emotional and spiritual support after Big Stone Gap Police Officer Michael Chandler was shot and killed Saturday.
Chandler was responding to a welfare check around 4 a.m. when he was shot. He succumbed to his injuries around 7 p.m. and the suspect was arrested in Tennessee just after 8 p.m.
“The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team is heartbroken to hear of another law enforcement officer who was killed in the line of duty,” said Jack Munday, international director of the BG-RRT. “Our crisis-trained chaplains—many of whom have law enforcement backgrounds—will be available to talk, pray, or just listen to officers as they grieve this significant loss within their department.”
Sunday’s deployment marks the 43rd deployment of 2021 for the BG-RRT. Chaplains continue serving at three locations in Louisiana, where they have been since September after Hurricane Ida made landfall, and also flood-devastated parts of Detroit, Michigan, where they have been since July.
For more information on the ministry, including videos, photos, news articles and an interactive map of former and current deployments, visit the BG-RRT press kit or BillyGraham.org/RRT. Updates can also be found at Facebook.com/RRTChaplains.
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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 550 disaster sites across the globe, including shootings, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.
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Media Contact:
Blake Freeland
bfreeland@bgea.org
