TANGIPAHOA PARISH - On Monday evening, officials with the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office gathered to show their support of a fellow deputy who has been battling COVID for weeks in a local hospital.

The deputies gathered outside of the North Oaks Hospital on Monday night and displayed their unit's lights in a visible demonstration of their willingness to fight alongside their ill colleague.  

The Sheriff's Office says Sgt. Charles Warren has been in North Oaks Hospital for over a week and, now moved to ICU, is on a ventilator in serious condition.

His fellow deputies are asking the public to keep Warren and his family in their prayers.

News of Warren's hospitalization comes as Louisiana's Department of Health reports 1,022 new cases of COVID-19 across the state.