Hundreds remember deputy killed in the line of duty - wave3.com-Louisville News, Weather & Sports

MARION COUNTY, KY (WAVE) - Family, friends and first responders came together to say goodbye to a sheriff's deputy killed in the line of duty.

During his funeral inside the gym of his alma mater, Marion County High School, Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Anthony Rakes was remembered as a hero who accomplished his dream of becoming a police officer.

Rakes died on Wednesday after he was shot while checking on a vehicle that was stopped in the middle of U.S. 68 near Lebanon.

"I couldn't believe it," said Rakes's friend Randy Lanham. "I'm still in a daze right now."

"Probably don't realize how many people that loved him," said Rakes's friend Jody Hardin. "We are truly going to miss him. He was a pretty awesome guy."

"Anthony wasn't a quitter," said Pastor Bo Sherrell of Abundant Harvest Community Church, "regardless of some of the hardships he had in his life. He lost his mom at age 11; he lost his father at age 21, but, you know, Anthony had a vision. He was going to chase that dream. That dream was to be a cop."

"I consistently think of one simple term to describe him. He was a good man," said Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Clements. "He wasn't flashy at all. Girls at the office could make him blush so easily. He was quiet and reserved, but he was a true friend."

"We lost a great one in the community," Lanham said. "It will be hard to fill his shoes in the sheriff's department. Lord's got somebody in his hands now to help him. We'll all miss him."

More than 350 first responders from more than 50 different agencies attended Saturday's service.
     
As for the man accused of shooting Rakes, 49-year-old Dewayne Shipp is charged with the murder of a police officer. Shipp is currently in police custody at University of Louisville Hospital where he is being treated for a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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