University of Maryland at Eastern Shore alumnus Glenn Hilliard is being mourned after being fatally injured on duty. Learn more in the story Michelle Watson and Michelle Krupa at CNN below.
A sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed Sunday night while chasing a fugitive, the sheriff’s office in Wicomico County, Maryland, said.
Deputy First Class Glenn Hilliard was fatally wounded around 8:25 p.m. in Pittsville, Maryland, the office said. The 20-year-old suspect is in custody at the county detention center, Sheriff Mike Lewis told CNN.
The sheriff’s office is due to hold a news conference Monday at 11 a.m. to give more details on the investigation, Lewis said.
Intentional killings of law enforcement officers reach 20-year high, FBI saysHilliard, 41, was at least the 25th law enforcement officer this year killed by gunfire in the line of duty, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks such deaths. Last year saw the most US law enforcement officers intentionally killed in the line of duty since 9/11, as gun violence and homicides rose, data from the FBI showed.
Hillard spotted the fugitive, who has “felony warrants in multiple jurisdictions,” leaving an apartment complex and chased him on foot when he was shot, the department said. “After an extensive manhunt by dozens of law enforcement officers from throughout the region, the suspect was captured and is awaiting arraignment,” it added, without naming him.
A homicide investigation into Hilliard’s killing will be conducted by Maryland State Police, Lewis said. Hilliard was a 16-year law enforcement veteran, the sheriff said. He spent six years at the sheriff’s office in Wicomico County in southeastern Maryland and 10 years as an officer for Berlin, Maryland, police.
“He was … married with three beautiful children,” Lewis said, and an “exemplary public servant to the citizens of Wicomico County and to the State of Maryland,” the department said.
“The days ahead will be challenging, but for now, we are mourning the loss of an incredible human being,” the sheriff’s office said.
Hillard would have turned 42 on June 22, the department said.
