On Wednesday, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office and the LaGrange Police Department were involved in a highly public, six-hour standoff on Kelley Street in LaGrange that resulted in the successful apprehension of Shane Aultman, a suspect in a home invasion and shooting that took place on Tuesday.

Officers from both law enforcement agencies used tear gas to force Aultman out from underneath a trailer Wednesday afternoon, leading to a successful arrest with no casualties or injuries.

Aultman, along with a second suspect named Dusty Sivell, stand accused of forcibly entering a residence on South Stateline Road on Tuesday, striking a victim in the back of the head and shooting him before taking several items from a safe inside the home. According to a Troup County Sheriff’s Office press release, they fled the scene in a grey Corvette, which came back stolen, and also took the victim’s gold Jeep Wrangler.

Sivell was arrested after a pursuit of the Corvette on Tuesday. TCSO Sgt. Stewart Smith said police located Aultman after receiving information about the location of the stolen Jeep, which was found at East Side Baptist Church on Mason Street.

Law enforcement officers train for situations and scenarios like the one that played out in LaGrange on Wednesday, and are well-equipped to handle those intense environments. However, any police officer or sheriff’s deputy will attest that in situations like the one that unfolded Wednesday afternoon, the possibility that things go could bad is always looming in the background of their minds.

This time, thankfully, that did not take place, and the officers involved with the arrest should be applauded and thanked for their efficient and skilled work.

Law enforcement officers are held to a very high societal standard. The safety of our communities is in their hands, which is a job the vast majority take extremely seriously. Oftentimes, these officers make the most headlines when a bad apple in their ranks has done something unbecoming of an officer of the law, while the tremendous amount of good that they do can go unnoticed. While no good law enforcement officer signs up to read his or her own press clippings, this is an opportunity to say thank you to our local agencies.

Thank you to those officers who responded to the events that transpired on Wednesday. Thank you for your courage and your skill in efficiently and safely apprehending a suspect in a violent crime.