Sheriff’s Deputy Glenn Hilliard of Wicomico County, Maryland, was shot and killed on Sunday while pursuing a fugitive, according to the sheriff’s office. Glenn Hilliard saw a person wanted for “many offenses” in numerous jurisdictions leave a Pittsville apartment complex. According to the sheriff’s office, he then chased the suspect on foot. Hilliard was tragically shot while trying to capture the suspect.
In a Facebook post commemorating a slain hero, the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office said:
“Deputy Glenn Hilliard was a son, husband, and father of three beautiful children, a brother to those he worked with, and an exceptional public servant to the inhabitants of Wicomico County and the State of Maryland. During this terrible moment, our thoughts and prayers are with Glenn’s family.”
It is a difficult day at the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office. When I met with Deputy Hilliard’s wife, she asked me to convey what a good man he was, and that he died doing what he loved. pic.twitter.com/mx5R1rDIaq
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) June 13, 2022
More on Glenn Hilliard: Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office calls the deputy’s death “senseless and terrible.”
Deputy First Class Hilliard, 41, has been a police officer for 16 years. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, Hilliard was the 25th law enforcement officer murdered by gunshot in the line of duty this year. Hillard served in many departments of the sheriff’s office before requesting a return to patrol. He would have turned 42 the following Wednesday, June 22nd. Glenn Hilliard’s wife and three children survive him. The courageous police officer’s death startled his colleagues, with the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office expressing “heartbreak at this needless and sad murder.” The department issued the following statement on Facebook:
“This tragedy has taken a great emotional toll on the Sheriff’s Office family, but we will do everything possible to remember Glenn and assist those who knew and loved him.”
The man was apprehended after an exhaustive search by hundreds of law enforcement personnel from around the area. The Sheriff’s Office later stated that the apprehended person, who is awaiting arraignment, posed no additional danger. Although the suspect’s identification had not been published before, a tweet by the Wicomico Sheriff confirmed the man’s identity as Austin Davidson.
The intentional death of law enforcement personnel is on the increase.
According to FBI statistics, the purposeful killing of US law enforcement personnel in the line of duty increased last year, mirroring a surge in gun violence and murders. Chuck Wexler of the Police Executive Research Forum stated of murder deaths:
“When killings rise, so do shootings, contributing to an overall spike in violence, and police officers find themselves in the thick of it.”
I ask all of the people of Maryland to keep the Hilliard Family, the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Department, and all the members of our dedicated law enforcement community in your prayers.
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) June 13, 2022
According to an FBI analysis, 55 cops were murdered by a gunshot from 2021 through the end of November, up from 39 in 2020 and 2019.
