Social worker killed in shooting at Georgia VA clinic remembered for love of helping others

Nicholas “Nic” Crews was killed in a shooting at a Jasper, Georgia VA clinic. | CBS

Family and friends gathered over the weekend to honor the life of a Georgia Department of Veterans Affairs employee who was killed in a shooting at the clinic where he worked earlier this week.

Authorities say 34-year-old Nicholas “Nic” Crews was working at the Jasper VA clinic on Tuesday when 51-year-old Lawrence Charles Michels visited for a walk-in mental health consultation. At some point, investigators say Michels pulled out a gun and shot the social work case manager at least once.

Medics airlifted Crews to a trauma hospital for treatment. He died from his injuries a day later.

Crews’ obituary described the Marietta man as having “a passion and love for Christ and helping others.” After studying at Kennesaw University, he moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, to pursue a master’s in social work. There, he met the woman who would become his wife, Alyssa Crews.

After moving back to Georgia and starting a family, Crews became a licensed clinical social worker, accepting a position at with the Department of Veterans Affairs. He had been with the clinic for over two years.

At Marietta’s North River Church of Christ on Sunday, people filled the room to pay their respects to a man described as a “loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”

Crews leaves behind a wife and two children with a third on the way.

A GoFundMe to support the family has raised more than $400,000 as of Monday morning.

An investigation into the shooting by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, VA’s Office of Inspector General, and Georgia Bureau of Investigation remains ongoing.