A social work case manager at a Veterans Administration clinic in Jasper was laid to rest on Sunday.
Nicolas James “Nic” Crews, of East Cobb, was 34 when he was shot on Tuesday by a man p0lice said had come for a walk-in mental health consultation.
Crews, who was a husband and father of three young children, died on Wednesday after being taken to a trauma hospital.
The suspect who escaped the clinic, Charles Michels, 51, of Jasper, was later and shot and killed by local police in a shootout in the clinic’s parking lot, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is conducting an investigation.
At Crews’ funeral on Sunday at the North River Church in Marietta, he was recalled by a friend as having “loved people so much, I’m not shocked by how many people, the outpouring of love that we’ve seen from the community, from immediate friends and family. It just speaks to who Nic was.”
Crews was called to the social work profession through his religious convictions, according to his obituary.
He earned a history degree from Kennesaw State University and led a campus ministry while earning a master’s degree in social work at the University of Tennessee.
An online fundraiser has been established to assist Crews’ family, and more than $400,000 has been pledged. More information about Crews has been compiled at this tribute page.
Before his funeral, a friend of Crews told 11 Alive that they met at KSU through a Christian college ministry, and enjoyed hiking Kennesaw Mountain together.
On one such hike, it began to snow, and Cody Porter said Crews urged them to pray out loud.
“He was going to draw out the heart of whoever he was with, and he was going to infuse you with faith, hope and love,” Porter told the TV station.
“I one hundred percent know that Nic died doing what he was called to do by God,” Porter said.
The National Association of Social Workers of Georgia issued a statement Friday:
“This loss also reinforces a broader truth: social workers must be supported, protected, and invested in at every level. The profession continues to give so much to individuals, families, and communities, often under challenging and under-resourced conditions. Ensuring fair compensation, safe working conditions, and strong systemic support is not optional; it is necessary.”
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