A Delaware police officer who was attacked while responding to a fight earlier this week has died from his injuries.
Delmar Police Chief Ivan Barkley said that Cpl Keith Heacook, 54, was declared “clinically dead” Wednesday afternoon but remains on life support for organ donation, NBC10 Philadelphia reported.
Heacook responded to a report of a fight in progress just after 5 a.m. on Sunday in the Yorkshire Estates community, as CrimeOnline previously reported. When he didn’t respond to dispatch a short time later, more officers were sent to the location, where they found Heacook unconscious inside the residence.
Police later said that the 911 caller told dispatchers that a man was being disorderly, fighting with residence and destroying items. Moments after that call, a second caller an across the street neighbor said that a man attacked him and his wife.
following a brutal assault Sunday morning at the Yorkshire Estates community.
The attack left Heacook, who his sister said wanted to help people as an officer, with a significant head injury.
At 12:48 p.m. Wednesday, hospital officials in Baltimore pronounced him clinically deceased, though he is still on life support, Delmar Police Chief Ivan Barkley said in an evening news conference. Heacook s organs will be donated. I need you to know that even with his sacrifice, he’s still a hero for someone, Barkley said.
Funeral arrangements for Heacook will be made in the coming days.
The 22-year veteran of the department was found unconscious by a Delaware trooper and Wicomico County Sheriff s Office deputy after he responded to a fight-in-progress call at about 5:12 a.m. Sunday.
Cpl. Keith Heacook suffered head trauma during April 25 attack
Melissa Steele
Cpl. Keith Heacook/DELAWARE STATE POLICE PHOTO
A Delmar police officer who responded to a fight in the early hours of April 25 has died from injuries he sustained at the scene.
Delaware State Police Master Cpl. Gary Fournier said Cpl. Keith Heacook was pronounced clinically dead at 12:48 p.m. He is being held on life support in order to harvest his organs, he said.
Attorney General Kathleen Jennings said Randon Wilkerson, 30, of Delmar will face murder charges in the attack that has shaken the Delmar community.
Heacook, a 22-year veteran of the police force, was responding to a fight at a home on Buckingham Drive in Yorkshire Estates when he was attacked. Dispatchers tried to reach Heacook after he arrived at the home, and when there was no response, more officers were dispatched. Responding officers found Heacook unconscious and pulled him from the home to administer first aid. Heacook eventually w