A former Tuscaloosa Police officer was shot and killed in the line of duty in Huntsville Tuesday night, sources across the state have confirmed.

Huntsville Police Office Garrett Crumby and another officer, Albert Morin, were called to an emergency domestic violence call Tuesday night when they were allegedly ambushed and shot by an armed man who had already shot and injured a woman on the scene.

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Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement that Crumby did not survive, and Morin was in critical condition late Tuesday night.

“Officer Crumby was a three-year veteran of the Huntsville Police Department. He previously served for eight years with the Tuscaloosa Police Department," Marshall said. "He is the first Alabama police officer to fall to gunfire this year, but the third to be shot in the line of duty."

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A spokesperson for the Tuscaloosa Police Department said Crumby worked there from November 2013 until August 2020.

Crumby is the third officer with connections to TPD to be fatally shot in the last few years -- the department's own Dornell Cousette was shot and killed here in Tuscaloosa in September 2019, and last year, Tuscaloosa native Kennis Croom was killed while responding to a domestic violence call in Mississippi.

“Our part of the country has been reminded again this week of the pure heroism of those who make up the thin blue line—the dividing line, at times, between life and death for the citizens that they swear an oath to protect," Marshall said in a statement. "These two law enforcement officers responded to a domestic violence call this evening, knowing full well that they would be placing their lives on the line in defense of their fellow man. We must never take their service and sacrifice for granted.”

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 24-year-old suspect, Juan Robert Laws, and charged him with capital murder in Crumby's death.

This is still a breaking and developing story, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread for updates as they become available.

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