Chief Deputy Jody Wayne Cash, 44, of the Calloway County Sheriff’s Office was killed in the line of duty on Monday afternoon, May 16, 2022. The shooting occurred about 2:10 PM just outside the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office in Benton, Kentucky, while Cash was at the facility to interview 30-year-old Gary Rowland of Murray, who had been taken into custody earlier that day on outstanding warrants for parole violations and offenses related to drugs and firearms.

During a break Rowland requested for a cigarette, deputies escorted him outside. Rowland produced a concealed 9mm handgun that had not been found during booking and shot Deputy Cash. Two other deputies, Donald Bowman and Brandon Little, returned fire and Rowland was killed at the scene. Deputy Cash was taken to Marshall County Hospital but later died of his injuries.

Investigators later determined Rowland had not been thoroughly searched when taken into custody, which allowed him to keep the concealed weapon. A woman was prosecuted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, plus three years supervised release, for illegally transporting the stolen firearm used in the shooting. Cash served previously with the Kentucky State Police, Murray State University Police Department and the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office and is survived by his wife and two children.

If anyone has information about the circumstances leading to the inadequate search or the firearm’s chain of custody, please share what is known.