Former police officer drowns while attempting to rescue swimmers from rip current

ATLANTA (Atlanta News First/Gray News) - A former Georgia police officer died trying to save others from drowning off the South Carolina coast.

Police in South Carolina said 38-year-old Anderson “Chase” Childers and another person dove into the water off Pawleys Island to help several swimmers who were caught in a rip current on Sunday afternoon.

Childers drowned after he also got caught in the rip current, according to the Pawleys Island Police Department.

“He died trying to save others,” the department wrote in a social media post.

Childers, who was a resident of Paulding County, Georgia, and originally from Kennesaw, served as a uniformed patrol officer with the Cobb County Police Department for over three years, the agency said.

Childers was also a former professional baseball player. He played for North Cobb Christian High School and Georgia State University before being picked up by the Baltimore Orioles in 2009.

According to Major League Baseball, Childers then played in the Orioles’ minor league system.

“We are saddened to learn of Chase’s passing, and send our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones,” an Orioles spokesperson said in a statement.

A GoFundMe raising money for Childers’ wife and three children has already surpassed $70,000 as of Wednesday evening.

“As a devoted husband and father, he displayed extraordinary courage and selflessness,” the GoFundMe said. “In a heroic act, he saved a family of five in a moment of crisis in Pawleys Island on Sunday afternoon, putting their lives above his own.”

“Tragically, after giving everything he had to save them, he was unable to stay above water as the rip tide swept him away, ultimately paying the highest sacrifice with his life in front of his three children and wife,” organizers added on the GoFundMe benefiting Childers. “His bravery, kindness, and love will always be remembered.”