The community of Manchester, Tennessee, is reeling from a second death in its local government after a city police captain was found dead in his truck Friday.
It had only been five days since Manchester's mayor, Lonnie J. Norman, died Oct. 11 from the coronavirus.
"It is with a heavy heart we announce the passing of a brother officer, Captain Chris Patterson of the Manchester Police Department," the Coffee County Sheriff's Office posted Sunday on its social media page. "Captain Patterson died Friday October 16th. Our condolences to his family as well as his work family. You all are in our thoughts and prayers."
There were no other details offered in the post. Coffee County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Capt. Frank Watkins said Monday District Attorney General Craig Northcott's office was handling a probe of Patterson's death and that the sheriff's office was assisting.
Northcott could not be reached for comment on Monday but he told WTVF NewsChannel 5 in Nashville over the weekend that an autopsy scheduled for Sunday might provide more information in Patterson's death. According to WTVF's report, Patterson was found dead inside his truck on Blue Creek Road. He appeared to have a gunshot wound, WTVF reported.
The death is the second of a public figure to strike the Manchester community in October.
"We are grieving, and at a loss of words over the passing of Mayor Lonnie J. Norman and Captain Chris Patterson. We will find the words soon and share, but for the moment, we will reflect on our own, the loss of these great men!" a social media post Sunday by the police department states.
Norman, 79, and the city's first Black mayor, died Oct. 11 after being hospitalized with COVID-19 on Oct. 1, according to city officials. Norman, who had just been elected in August to his third consecutive term as mayor, was said by friends to have been a major local player during the Civil Rights era.
According to reports in the local newspaper the Manchester Times, Patterson was 42 years old, left behind a wife and two children and had been on the police force for more than 10 years.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.