Roll of Honor
Incident
Lieutenant McLain suffered a fatal heart attack when he was assaulted at a shots fired call. He and another deputy had responded to the call and encountered two intoxicated men. One of the suspects pulled a knife on the two officers, who then called for backup. One of the suspects then struck Lieutenant McLain on the head. As the lieutenant pulled out his service revolver he suffered a heart attack and collapsed.
Lieutenant McLain had served with the Houston County Sheriff's Office for 10 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-AL-D06A6B2A- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Lieutenant McLain gave the Houston County Sheriff's Office 10 years.
Thank you for your service to the Dothan community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant McLain.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Lieutenant Fred McLain is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In AL, 30 of 643 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.7% of this state's fallen. That is 0.7 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Houston County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Fred McLain's cause is highlighted.
How Fred McLain Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. Fred McLain is highlighted in Oct.
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Houston County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
