This was one I could only find information for on small-time or local media sites. It’s a shame that the mainstream media will not cover stories like what happened to Corporal Keith Heacook. According to reports, the officer responded to a 911 call about a ‘fight in progress’. The incident took place around 5:12 am last Sunday.
The call description could not have prepared Corporal Heacook for what was actually taking place. Police now say that a 30-year-old suspect, Randon Wilkerson, pushed his way into the home of an elderly couple, viciously attacking them. The officer was likely expecting a domestic dispute but what he walked into was a violent and dangerous scene.
“Wilkerson knocked on the back door of a residence and was met by the 73-year-old male victim. The male victim was then assaulted as Wilkerson entered the house and then struck numerous times with a glass object. Wilkerson then repeatedly assaulted a 76-year-old female with the same object before fleeing the house, 6 Action News reported.
The details are still not clear how the suspect overpowered the officer but a witness says she saw Wilkerson kicking the officer in the head repeatedly on the living room floor.
Heacook was found unconscious, suffering from blunt force trauma to the head. He was rushed to an area hospital and later transported to Shock Trauma in Baltimore, Maryland where he was recently put on life support for organ donation purposes, according to reports.
“I need you to know that even with his sacrifice, he’s still a hero for someone,” said Delmar Police Chief Ivan Barkley.
“Corporal Keith Heacook is a 22-year veteran and has been employed with our department since 1998,” Chief Barkley said Sunday. “He is a husband, son, brother, and father. Keith is fighting for his life right now and he needs your prayers along with the elderly couple who were also injured. Members from the Delmar Police appreciate the outpouring of community support as we continue to move forward.”
“These are the worst moments any of us can imagine: mourning the loss of a member of our law enforcement family,” Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement Wednesday night. “Cpl. Keith Heacook served his Department and his community honorably and faithfully for more than two decades – a family man, a public servant, and a protector of his community until his final days…Tonight we remember a father and a husband; a veteran of Delmar’s police force; and a brother in Delaware’s law enforcement family. Tonight we mourn the loss of a man who devoted his life to serving others. Tonight we acknowledge law enforcement across the state, who willingly face danger each day so the rest of us don’t have to.”
“We are here to mourn the loss of a man who devoted his entire career to the selfless cause of serving the rest of us,” the AG continued. “And we are here to acknowledge law enforcement across this state who willingly face danger each and every day so that all of the rest of us don’t have to.”
“Tonight we wrap our arms around a community and a family and hold them in support and prayer,” added Jennings.
Watch
Several outlets reported that the elderly couple was released from the hospital and are currently recovering in their home. Their physical wounds may heal but I don’t think they will ever get over the events that unfolded that night. No connection between the couple and the suspect has been publicly released at this time.