Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis said Sunday that one of his deputies died early Sunday morning after a brief illness.
Cpl. Albert Bernard Thomas had served with the department for three years.
"It is with a great deal of sadness that I inform you of the passing of Cpl. Albert Bernard Thomas," said Dennis in a statement. "(He) was in law enforcement for almost six years. However, we at the Sumter County Sheriff's Office had the pleasure of working with him for three years. He was certainly an asset to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office, as well as the Sumter community, which he so proudly served."
Dennis said Thomas was "family."
"He was our law enforcement family," said Dennis. "The Sumter County Sheriff's Office will certainly miss him."
Thomas's Facebook page shows he was a graduate of Manning High School and a native of Manning.
