On February 8, 2024, a routine duty ended in irreversible loss. Gregory Allan McCowan, a 43-year-old Deputy Sheriff with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office, died from gunfire during a traffic stop. For the people who knew his presence, and for the community whose safety he worked to protect, the date became more than an entry on a calendar. It became the day a life of service was taken away. McCowan had served Blount County for four years. His badge number was 344, a small identifying number that came to carry the full weight of a human life: a deputy who went to work, answered calls,…

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