ATLANTA _ Two Fulton County sheriff's deputies were killed Tuesday in a crash involving a tractor-trailer on I-20 in east Georgia, officials said.
The fatal crash happened shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern time at Exit 190 near Grovetown, Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Stephanie Stallings said.
The Columbia County Sheriff's Office found the Fulton deputies in a marked patrol car, she said. Both deputies were pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators determined that their Dodge Charger hit the back of a tractor-trailer that was stopped for traffic, Stallings said. The GSP is investigating the crash, but the deputies' names are not being released until their families have been notified.
"Please keep the Fulton County Sheriff's Office family and the family members of all involved in your thoughts and prayers," Stallings said.
The deputies' deaths prompted swift condolences from state leaders.
"Tragic news," Gov. Brian Kemp said in a tweet, asking for prayers for the families and colleagues of the deputies killed.
"The thoughts and prayers of all Georgians are with you," Kemp said.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr echoed the governor in a tweet and called the news "devastating."
Both eastbound lanes and one westbound lane of I-20 remain blocked for the crash investigation, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Eastbound traffic "can detour across the median and head back" west, the agency said in a tweet.
