Law enforcement officers from several different agencies across South Alabama and Florida came up to Andalusia on Friday to participate in the 9th Annual Covington County Incident Response Team Pistol Competition.

The shooters enjoyed the event, but it was seeing fellow LEOs that they may not have seen in awhile.

“This is my second year coming,” Jason Day of the Walton County Sheriff’s Department said. “I come for the comradery and there is nothing like the smell of cordite in the morning.”

Chris Inabinett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, who won the opening event, also said he comes for the friendships.

“I’ve been coming to this competition since 2011,” Inabinett said. “I’m from here but now I’ve moved off. It’s great to see faces that I don’t get to see anymore or haven’t seen in awhile. The comradery is the biggest part of it.”

Others, like the State Bureau of Investigation’s Jason Ballard, have been coming to the competition since it began.

“I started out working the first two when I was with IRT,” Ballard said. “For the last seven years, I’ve been coming back as a shooter. It’s great getting together with people I use to work with. You know, shooting and winning are fun, but it’s all about being around your brothers.”

IRT team leader Sgt. Nic Ireland was very pleased with how the even turned out.

“We’ve got some great shooters and the day has really moved along smoothly,” Ireland said. “There were guys from different agencies from across South Alabama and some from Florida. We really have had great weather for it today. The purpose of this is to raise money to go towards equipment for our team.”