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Police Officer Christopher DeLong, Jr. of the Columbia Police Department in South Carolina is remembered with sorrow and gratitude. He was killed by gunfire on August 29, 2026, while responding to a domestic disturbance near the 900 block of Hazelwood Road in Columbia’s Southeast Park area.
Officer DeLong was 29 years old and had served the Columbia Police Department for 605 days. The South Carolina Fraternal Order of Police reported that he left behind a wife and two children. Those facts cannot measure the full weight of this loss, but they help establish the human life and public service behind his name.
A Call That Became a Fatal Encounter
Officer DeLong initially responded to a report of property damage arising from a domestic dispute. The call placed him in the position familiar to officers everywhere: answering a report, assessing what had occurred, and working to identify the people and circumstances connected to it.
After leaving the original call, Officer DeLong identified a subject and vehicle matching the reported description. He called that information in, taking a step intended to help fellow officers locate and address the situation. The official memorial account identifies the subsequent response as occurring near the 900 block of Hazelwood Road in Columbia’s Southeast Park area.
When backup officers arrived a few minutes later, Officer DeLong and another officer had been shot. Officer DeLong succumbed to his wounds at the scene. The record lists the cause of death as gunfire and classifies the death as felonious, facts that convey the finality of the violence without diminishing the person who was lost.
605 Days of Service in Columbia
Officer DeLong served the Columbia Police Department for 605 days, a period measured in official records but lived through countless duties, decisions, and encounters. Every day of police service asks an officer to respond when others need help, often before the full circumstances are known.
His rank was Police Officer, and his agency was the Columbia Police Department. These are precise details, yet they also describe a role rooted in presence: being called to a problem, gathering information, communicating with colleagues, and moving toward situations that may be uncertain or dangerous.
The South Carolina Fraternal Order of Police reported that Officer DeLong left behind a wife and two children. Their grief is private and immeasurable, while the public’s responsibility is clear: to remember Christopher DeLong, Jr. as a person whose life included family, service, and a commitment to answer the call.
A Name Columbia Will Carry Forward
Memorials cannot undo the violence that ended Officer DeLong’s life, and no ceremony can make the absence of a husband, father, colleague, and friend feel smaller. They can, however, keep his name present and ensure that the facts of his service are not separated from the tragedy of his death.
Officer DeLong’s final assignment began with a report of property damage and continued when he recognized a matching subject and vehicle. His actions connected the original call to the arriving backup officers. Remembering that sequence honors the work he was doing: attentive, communicative, and engaged with a developing public-safety matter.
Columbia Police Officer Christopher DeLong, Jr. died at the scene on August 29, 2026, after being shot while responding to the disturbance. His 605 days with the Columbia Police Department now form part of the agency’s history. His name also remains with those who loved him and with the community he served.
Christopher DeLong, Jr. was more than the circumstances of his death. He was a 29-year-old Police Officer who served Columbia, South Carolina, and who was remembered by the South Carolina Fraternal Order of Police as a husband and father. His life deserves to be spoken of with the same care as the incident that took it.
May his name be remembered accurately and compassionately: Police Officer Christopher DeLong, Jr., Columbia Police Department, End of Watch August 29, 2026. May his family, colleagues, and community be met with support as they carry the grief of a life and a public service cut short.
