Virgil McNeece

ALTAMONT, Tenn. — Deputy Shane Tate was laid to rest Sunday surrounded by families, friends and hundreds of his brothers and sisters in uniform who stood at attention under the blazing sun for graveside services.

Grundy County Deputy Tate was killed Thursday while trying to serve at warrant at the home of Kermit Eugene Bryson, who later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“He was an outstanding man,” said Sandy Smith, who waited at the Hunerwaldel Community Cemetery. Ms. Smith brought Deputy Tate’s only son, Dylen Shane Tate, to the cemetery. The little boy, who turned 5 in April, clambered around the seat of a bright red firetruck while his aunt kept an eye on him.

“He was a good father,” she said. “I brought Dylen here so he could see (all the people), so he can always remember this. Shane was a hero in our eyes.”

Staff Photo by Angela Lewis
Officers remove Deputy Shane Tate’s casket from the back of a hearse in Hunerwadel Community Cemetery in Beersheba Springs, Tenn., Sunday. The Grundy County deputy was killed early Thursday while serving a warrant.

It was a hero’s funeral with more than 200 police vehicles stretched out over the five miles from the Altamont Church of Christ to the cemetery. Led by 29 motorcycle officers, the processional wound between residents standing along both sides the road, saluting the hearse as it passed.

Patrol Officer Scott Davis came from the Smithville Police Department, located between Cookeville, Tenn., and Lebanon, Tenn., off Interstate 40.

“I came to pay my respects to a fellow officer who gave his life for his family and community,” Officer Davis said. “Something like this is always at the top of your mind every time you put on the uniform.”

The solidarity shown by the officers, who came as far away as Savannah, Tenn., in West Tennessee and from Dade County in Georgia, is what the “thin blue line,” means, said Monteagle, Tenn., Police Chief Virgil McNeece. One of Chief McNeece’s officers, Brian Malhoit, was with Deputy Tate. Officer Malhoit was shot while covering the rear of the trailer where the deputy was shot. The wound was minor, and Chief McNeece said he took the officer off administrative leave at his request. He let him go back to work, but he was not letting him talk the media Sunday, Chief McNeece said.

No one is exactly sure what happened in the trailer after Deputy Tate entered it about 3 a.m., the chief said. But he is sure that Deputy Tate followed proper procedure. He worked for the department for three years.

“Some have said he was a rookie,” the chief said of the 29-year-old man who graduated from the police academy only two weeks before he was killed. “He was no more a rookie than I am, and I have 18 years. He served that warrant just like we do it every day of the week. And he was at that trailer at 3 a.m. because the boy (Mr. Bryson) is a runner.”

And Mr. Bryson ran.

At a command post hundreds of state, federal and local officers from dozens of agencies, along with police dogs and helicopters began searching. They found Mr. Bryson at a house belonging to his girlfriend’s mother, and he shot himself in the head and died early Friday morning.

“When I came out of the woods I was ready to drop,” Chief McNeece said. “There were all these people at the command center. It was overwhelming, the support. Officers I’ve never seen before hugged me, nose to nose and said we are here to help.”

Deputy Tate also was the father of Skylar and Haley Tate, and stepfather of Areianna and Madeline Bowles. His wife is Crystal Bowles Tate.

It’s a small, close-knit community on the mountain top, residents said. Almost everybody knew everybody, and most of them were kin, too.

“Everybody knew him, and everybody liked him,” said Regina Brazil, a Beersheba Springs native who came from Oak Ridge, Tenn., for the funeral.

“He was always smiling.”

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