Stranger Holds Umbrella for Deputy Paying Tribute in the Rain to Fallen Comrade

A stranger held a umbrella for a deputy paying tribute to a fallen comrade.
A deputy is shielded by a stranger in Alabama. WBMA-TV

Sgt. Wytasha Carter, who was shot to death in the line of duty, was mourned Saturday in Birmingham with a somber motorcade

For 45 minutes and without saying a word, a stranger held an umbrella over an Alabama deputy as she saluted a fallen officer during a rainy memorial.

Sgt. Wytasha Carter, who was shot to death in the line of duty, was mourned Saturday in Birmingham with a somber motorcade.

Deputy Tiffany Dial stood at attention as Carter's casket went by. She had come to bear witness for her shift.

"I was representing everybody," she told CBS.

That is when Shawn Allen, who didn't know Dial, stepped forward and held his golf umbrella over both their heads. 

"I didn't want her to get wet while I stood there dry," he said.

Allen is a local prosecutor and had come to pay his respects as well.

On Monday, he and Dial officially met. "Give me a hug," she said to him as they wrapped their arms around each other.

He wasn't really happy about the attention he's gotten though. "My intention was never to get attention," he said. "My intention was to pay my respects to Sgt. Carter and to help this deputy who paid her respects to Sgt. Carter."

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