Hanceville police officer dies after battle with COVID-19
Hanceville AL Jan 25, 2022
The Hanceville Police Officer who was battling Covid-19 at UAB Hospital for months died Sunday.
Community members thought things were looking up for Lt. Kevin Pounders, but then his health took a turn for the worst Saturday night.
“When it’s a small department, like we have 13 officers, it’s more like a family than it is a co-worker, so it’s something that we didn’t expect,” said Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail.
Pounders suffered a stroke Saturday night and passed away Sunday morning. Just a few weeks ago, he was finally taken off a ventilator. His heart and lungs were being supported by another machine up until his death.
“He’s been fighting it for such a longtime and it done well and it’s been a rollercoaster but, you know, we always expected him to come out, so when we got the news this morning Lt. Pounders had passed away, of course it was pretty devastating,” said Assistant Chief Adam Hadder of the Hanceville Police Department.
Pounders was a Marine Corps veteran and had served the community as a law enforcement officer for more than 20 years.
“He’s been in public service work his whole life and it’s just sad that we lost him to Covid like that so, we’re just praying for his family and the community,” Hadder said.
In 2021, the leading cause of death among U.S. Police officers was Covid-19.
