BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (WTXL) — Hundreds came together at Centennial Field to mourn fallen Decatur County Sheriff’s Captain Justin Bedwell Thursday.
Bedwell was remembered as someone called to law enforcement, fulfilling a childhood dream.
“You could sleep well when Justin was on duty,” Rev. Stephen Webb said in eulogizing Bedwell. “Justin could handle whatever came up. He could always be counted on. Whenever you called him, he came.”
Decatur County Sheriff Wiley Griffin presented Bedwell’s wife and daughter with the American flag that had draped Bedwell’s casket.
The service concluded with a final radio call marking the end of watch for Bedwell, calling him “one of the best.”
Captain Bedwell was shot Saturday night while pursuing two suspects who fled a traffic stop in Seminole County and drove into Decatur county.
Bedwell died Monday morning at a Tallahassee hospital.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the shooting happened near U.S. Highway 84 and State Road 310 on Saturday, February 27, stemming from a car chase that began in Seminole County.
Seminole County deputies tried to pull over a white Chevrolet pickup truck for reckless driving Saturday night when the suspects inside the vehicle, 41-year-old Brad Phillips and his 40-year-old brother Troy Arthur Phillips, opened fire.
The GBI said that as Captain Bedwell, was arriving in the area, one of the suspects shot at the deputy’s vehicle, hitting the deputy.
Captain Bedwell was a 19-year veteran of the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office.
Decatur County Sheriff Wiley Griffin confirmed that Lieutenant Justin Bedwell died Monday morning after getting emergency surgery in Tallahassee on Sunday.
