COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The services for two Cobb County deputies shot and killed in the line of duty Thursday have been announced.
Jonathan Koleski and Marshall Ervin, Jr. were ambushed while serving a warrant at a home just outside Marietta Thursday, according to authorities.
Koleski was a longtime deputy with the Cobb County Sheriff's Office, joining the agency in 2007. He was a U.S. Army veteran who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ervin, 38, had been with the sheriff's office since 2012.
Sheriff Craig Owens described them both as family men, with wives and children, who were "outstanding men, men of character and integrity."
The scheduled funeral arrangements for each fallen deputy are as follows:
DEPUTY JONATHAN RANDALL KOLESKI
January 7, 1980 - September 8, 2022
Wednesday, September 14
Visitation: 9 - 11 a.m. | Service: 12 p.m. | Burial: 2:30 p.m.
NorthStar Church
3413 Blue Springs Road
Kennesaw, GA 30144
Georgia National Cemetery
1080 Veterans Cemetery Road
Canton, GA 30114
DEPUTY MARSHALL SAMUAL ERVIN, JR.
May 21, 1984 - September 8, 2022
Thursday, September 15
Visitation: 12 - 2 p.m. | Service: 2 p.m.
West Ridge Church
3522 Hiram Acworth Highway
Dallas, GA 30157
A procession is also scheduled to leave NorthStar Church at approximately 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. The procession will head south on Cobb Parkway, left onto Chastain Road and on to 575 N.
"For those that wish to pay their respects as the funeral procession passes by, we are encouraging you to stand near Chastain Road and George Busbee Parkway," the Cobb County Sheriff's Office said.
"Our hearts are broken here in Cobb County," Sheriff Owens said the night of the attack on the deputies. "It's a night of heartache for two families, two wives who have lost amazing husbands."
PHOTOS | Cobb County Deputy Jonathan Koleski
Owens said the two deputies went up to the home, rang the doorbell and no one answered. They were then fired upon as they returned to their patrol vehicle, evidently from a car pulling up to the home at that same time.
Residents in the area who spoke to 11Alive's Hope Ford said it sounded "like fireworks" before dozens of law enforcement vehicles arrived at the scene.
An hours-long standoff ensued, and eventually, two suspects were taken into custody. Those suspects have since been identified as Christopher Cook and Christopher Golden.
Owens said the entire community was feeling the force of the tragedy.
"When one agency loses someone, we all lose someone," Owens said. "When this tragedy hurts our community, it hurts their community as well."
Sheriff Owens said “pray for us because we need it. We’re heartbroken.”