Every day when Josh Myers went to work he knew there was a chance there would be no homecoming for him.

As hard as it was, the Geneva County deputy sheriff had accepted that. But he could never have imagined the horror and sorrow that would come into his life at the hands of a gunman on a rampage.

Myers was one of the officers dispatched March 19 in the multi-agency manhunt for a man on a deadly shooting spree, which began in Coffee County and continued through Geneva County.

After killing 10 people, the gunman turned the gun on himself.

“I knew there might come a day when I would not come home but I never thought that one day I would not have a ‘home’ to come to,” said Myers, who was in Troy for Police Memorial Day Wednesday.

Myers’ wife, Andrea, and daughter, Corinne, were shot and killed on a neighbor’s porch in Samson as the gunman opened fire at those on the porch. His baby daughter, Ella, was wounded in the attack.

“It was me that was supposed to get shot at, not my family,” Myers said. “I never thought that anything like this would happen to them. It was always in the back of my mind about me, but not them.”

Myers said he was involved in the chase for the gunman when he met a friend on the highway.

“I called him on my cell phone and asked him to go check on my family,” Myers said. “When he called me back, he said I needed to go home. When I got there, I had to park way back because of all the cars. I ran up and saw my wife and little girl dead on the porch. I didn’t know what to do.”

There’s no way Myers can describe the pain and anguish of such great loss. But he has a 5-year-old son and a 5-month-old daughter to raise so he has to carry on.

“I had to get back to work,” he said. “It’s the only way that I can handle all of this,” he said. “If I can just keep busy ….”

Myers’ words trailed off. “People are always asking about Ella. She’s all right. She’s going to be fine.”

Myers’ concern is for his son who was found hiding in the house after the shooting and kept asking for his mother. No one knows what the little fellow saw and what he’s thinking.

“People have been really good to us and we appreciate all that has been done for us,” Myers said. “And, I want to thank the Troy Police Department for the generous donation today. People are really good, we sure know that.”

And it’s the strength that he receives from others and his faith that is carrying Myers through.

“My relationship with God has gotten much closer,” he said. “I know that God is the ultimate backup and there are times when He is the only one with us. God bless everyone and thank you for caring for us.”