MARYVILLE, Tenn. — Heritage High School students in a collision repair class stepped up with a special project to surprise their classmate in honor of his father — Greg McCowan. Greg died in February after he was fatally shot during a traffic stop.
Cayden McCowan graduated from Heritage High School in December, just a few months before his dad was shot and killed. He said collision repair was one of his favorite classes. The community rallied behind the McCowan family after the deputy's death, including students and friends at Heritage High School.
"They wanted to do something for him, but they didn't know what," said Lynn Robinson, a collision repair teacher. "I felt like it would mean a lot to him to do something through a car."
Cayden and his dad were working on fixing up an old Ford Mustang before he died. After his death, his son said he didn't know if it would ever get finished.
"Me and my dad loved building cars together. We never got around to painting his," said Cayden.
Students worked for weeks on the hood of the Mustang. They reworked the body and gave it a paint job that shows the "thin blue line" flag with McCowan's badge number — 344.
"This is really the icing on the cake," McCowan said. "It meant a lot that everybody cares that much and showed support."
The class entered the hood into a contest and won second place. They said supporting their friend meant more than any trophy.
"It about brings tears to your eyes," Robinson said. "You see the whole process and what it means to them."