ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) — A Dougherty County sheriff’s deputy is being recognized for his actions during a shooting outside Albany’s J. Lane Theater that injured one person and sent a crowd of more than 400 scattering.

Deputy Katarrion Harris, with the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office, was honored by county commissioners and Sheriff Terron Hayes this week for his response to the Oct. 10 shooting.

Albany police said officers were working to disperse the crowd outside the theater around 10:30 p.m. when several shots were fired. About an hour later, a man arrived at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital with a gunshot wound to his knee.

Two men were later arrested — 22-year-old Quentavious Jamal Tyson and 23-year-old Dey’ontae Bernard Sampson — on charges including aggravated assault with a firearm, reckless conduct and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Harris said when the shots rang out, his focus was on the people around him, especially children.

“Everything happened really fast,” Harris said. “I had to rely on my training. I had to stay calm at the time.”

In an interview after the ceremony, Harris credited fellow deputies and Albany police officers on scene, calling it a team effort.

“It wasn’t just me out there,” Harris said. “They played a major role in protecting the community.”

Hayes praised Harris’s actions, calling the ceremony a “celebration of service.”

“This could have easily been a celebration of life. And I thank God that we’re not celebrating life, but we’re celebrating your service,” Hayes said. “You did your job, and you did above and beyond what a lot of other individuals would not do in that situation.”

Hayes said he spent the night after the shooting watching social media reaction and called Harris to check on him.

“I watched social media to see what people had to say. And that’s why I called you to make sure you were okay, and to let you know that I was behind you 100%,” Hayes said.

Harris said he tried not to focus on negative comments online.

“Honestly, I really didn’t care, because I knew I did what I had to do,” Harris said. “I’m just going to pray for them.”

His message to others facing negativity on social media: “Don’t worry about what nobody thinks about you. Just do you.”

County commissioners said the recognition was prompted in part by the shift in social media conversation — from criticism to praise — after video of the incident circulated.

One commissioner said Sheriff Hayes called Harris a hero, and leaders felt “we’ve got to do something for the young man. He deserves his recognition.”

Another speaker quoted Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All,” telling Harris, “there’s a hero that lies in all of us,” and urged him to keep up the good work.

Harris was joined by his mother and father for the recognition. He called having them watch him “receive his flowers” very special.

Hayes told parents they should be proud, and closed with a message to those questioning Harris’s future with the agency:

“And not to anybody else that’s listening in social media land or world, and the chiefs or sheriffs or human resource directors — no, he’s not going in the portal.”

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