The Appomattox County, Virginia, law enforcement community is mourning the death of Deputy Burlie W. Duvall III, who was killed in the line of duty Thursday, August 6, after being struck during a chain-reaction crash on Route 460 in Campbell County.
Duvall, 33, of Concord, was pronounced dead at the scene following the devastating collision. His death has left his fellow deputies, family, friends and community members grieving the loss of an officer who was serving others when his life was tragically cut short.
According to the Virginia State Police, troopers responded at approximately 5:34 p.m. to an eight-vehicle chain-reaction crash on westbound Route 460, about four-tenths of a mile west of Cabin Field Road.
Investigators said Deputy Duvall and another Appomattox County Sheriff’s Office deputy were traveling home from the Central Virginia Criminal Justice Academy when they stopped to assist at an earlier crash.
The deputies positioned their vehicles in the two left lanes and activated their emergency equipment while assisting at the scene.
A tractor-trailer was approaching the area when its driver reportedly swerved in an attempt to avoid the stopped emergency vehicles. During the maneuver, the tractor-trailer struck Deputy Duvall.
Despite the response of emergency personnel, Duvall suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Virginia State Police.
The subsequent chain-reaction crash involved eight vehicles and resulted in several other people being taken to area hospitals. Authorities reported that approximately seven people suffered injuries ranging in severity, but none of those injuries was considered life-threatening.
Duvall’s death has brought profound grief to the Appomattox County Sheriff’s Office and the wider Virginia law enforcement community.
He was performing a responsibility familiar to first responders—stopping to help people involved in a crash—when he was struck. His death underscores the dangers law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel face while working alongside active traffic.
For Duvall’s colleagues, his death is the loss of a fellow deputy and friend, as well as a member of the broader law enforcement family. His willingness to stop and assist at a crash scene has become a central part of the circumstances surrounding his final moments.
His family, fellow officers and members of the community are now left to grieve while remembering a 33-year-old deputy whose life was devoted, at least in part, to serving and protecting others.
The investigation into the multi-vehicle collision remains ongoing as authorities work to establish the full circumstances surrounding the crash.
