Delaware Police Cpl. Keith Heacook Dies After Being Attacked While Responding To Fight
DELMAR, Del. (CBS/AP) -- Delmar Police Cpl. Keith Heacook has died from injuries he sustained when he was allegedly attacked by a Maryland man while responding to a call for a report of a fight at a local residence shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday.
The 911 caller reported one of the occupants, later identified as Randon D. Wilkerson, 30, of Salisbury, was fighting with other residents and destroying items inside the residence.
A separate 911 call was received moments later from a neighbor across the street who reported that he and his wife had been assaulted.
Authorities said Heacook responded and was attacked by Wilkerson. Additional officers were dispatched after dispatchers were unable to make radio contact with Heacook and found him unconscious inside the residence.
Heacook, a 22-year veteran of the police force, was taken to Shock Trauma medical center in Baltimore with significant head injuries.
Police said Wilkerson also assaulted a 76-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man living across the street after knocking on the back door and gaining entry. Both were hospitalized; the woman was later transported to Shock Trauma in Baltimore.
Wilkerson was arrested after being spotted at the rear of the property where Heacook was assaulted. He is charged with attempted murder, assault, burglary, possession of a deadly weapon while committing a felony and terroristic threatening.
Wilkerson was being held at Sussex Correctional Institution with bond set at $451,000 cash.
Online court records show that Wilkerson has a lengthy criminal history in Maryland. A bench warrant was issued for him in February after he was released on bond following a December burglary and failed to appear for a court hearing.
Data from the online records also indicated that the Delmar attacks occurred on Wilkerson's 30th birthday.
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings released a statement on Heacooks's death Wednesday night.
"These are the worst moments any of us can imagine: mourning the loss of a member of our law enforcement family. 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.
The man who stole him from his family and from his community has been arrested, and mark my words: he will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It is with nothing but sadness that I commit, now that Cpl. Heacook is no longer with us, that his killer's charges will be upgraded to include murder. He will be held accountable for his heinous crimes against Cpl. Heacook, against the elderly couple he viciously assaulted, and against Delmar and our state. The DOJ has been working together with Delmar and Delaware State Police, and all are doing everything in our power to ensure a successful prosecution.
But tonight is about more than the senseless evil that stole Keith Heacook. 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.
Tonight we wrap our arms around a community and a family and hold them in support and prayer; tomorrow, with clear eyes, we move forward in the pursuit of justice."
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)