Watauga commissioners ask community to honor fallen officers Fox and Ward

Watauga County commissioners have set aside a day to honor two slain deputies and the law enforcement officers who protect the lives of others. At a board meeting last week commissioners approved a resolution setting April as a month of remembrance for the county's fallen law enforcement officers.

The measure also requests that flags be flown at half-staff on April 28. That's the one-year anniversary of the deaths of Deputy Logan Fox and Sergeant Chris Ward.

The men were shot and killed by a man suspected of killing two other people, the suspect's stepfather and mother, George and Michelle Ligon. Authorities say the man then killed himself. The deaths of Fox and Ward shocked the Boone community, and hundreds of people attended a joint funeral service for the officers.

The resolution encourages people to observe a one-minute moment of silence at noon on April 28 and asks citizens, businesses and government offices in Watauga to illuminate a blue light.

A blue light has come to be a symbol that honors officers who have fallen in the line of duty.