Father-of-two police officer, 29, is killed by convicted felon in South Carolina park shootout

Columbia Police Officer Christopher DeLong, 29, was killed in a gunfight near Southeast Park in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday morning after units responded to a domestic violence call. His widow Hannah, 28, posted on Facebook condemning the shooter and lamenting that their children would be left to grow up fatherless. Officer David Dymock was also wounded but remains in a stable condition. The suspect, Adam Tyler Dowdy, 33, who had an extensive criminal record, was killed during the exchange.

DeLong had served on the force for just two years and is survived by Hannah, who had been with him since she was 16, and their two young children.

Dowdy had violated a restraining order and damaged the woman's property; he fled before officers arrived, but DeLong tracked him down roughly an hour later near a vehicle matching the description.

Hannah wrote: 'Someone's selfish decisions took away the one person I loved... my babies now have to grow up without their daddy.'