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Emotional first day | Fairburn police accompany children of fallen sergeant to school

Sgt. Jean-Harold Louis Astree died last week in a crash.

FAIRBURN, Ga. — Two Douglas County students started their first day of school with special people by their side.

Fairburn police escorted the son and daughter of fallen Fairburn Police Department Sgt. Jean-Harold Louis Astree to class on Tuesday.

Astree died last week in a four-vehicle wreck, according to Georgia State Patrol. According to the department, he had been employed with the city since 2018. They said he was also a U.S. Air Force veteran. 

Astree's son walked through the halls of Mason Creek Elementary School with at least eight officers for his first day of first grade. Sporting a Kansas City Chiefs t-shirt, the child was met at his classroom with high-fives from his father's colleagues and hugs.

Fairburn police also accompanied Astree's daughter on the first day of her freshman year at Alexander High School. 

The first day of school was a very emotional one for one Mason Creek Elementary School first grader. Fairburn Police...

Posted by Douglas County Georgia Schools on Wednesday, August 3, 2022

GSP said Astree was driving an unmarked Fairburn Police Dodge Charger northbound on Capps Ferry Road, near Brookcrest Court, when he "struck a GMC dually truck" in the southbound lane. The truck lost control and began spinning, crossing the center line and striking an Audi SUV in the oncoming lane. 

"After striking the GMC dually truck, the Charger traveled into the southbound lane of Capps Ferry Road and struck a second GMC truck head-on," a GSP statement said. Astree was the only victim killed in the wreck, authorities said.

Patrol services continue to investigate the crash.

   

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