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Wicomico County Deputy Remembered As Someone Who Loved His Job, Other People

SALISBURY, MD. -- People gathered at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium on Monday to attend a vigil in honor of the life of a Wicomico County deputy who died in the line of duty.

Deputy First Class Glenn Hilliard was shot around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday while trying to take into custody a fugitive who was wanted on felony warrants in multiple jurisdictions, authorities said. 

A chase ensued after Hilliard saw the suspect leaving an apartment complex and at some point, the deputy was shot.

"The only reason I'm able to function is because I know he died doing what he loved," his wife Tisheka Hilliard said. "It gives me strength knowing that what he did mattered. His life mattered."

People gathered around the stadium with candles and flags to listen to speakers pay their respects to Deputy Hilliard who had been a law enforcement officer for 16 years.

Hillard was known as a man who lived and breathed for the badge.

This included law enforcement officials from across the state of Maryland, healthcare workers, elected officials, family, and friends.

"He was a jokester," Caroline County law enforcement officer R.J. Helmer said. "He likes to cut up and carry on but he was 100 percent for the profession."

Deputy Hilliard was killed one week before he would have celebrated his 42nd birthday, according to Wicomico County Sheriff Michael Lewis.

"We will protect this family till death do us part," Lewis said.

Deputy Hilliard leaves behind three children, one of whom also spoke to a crowd of people at the stadium Monday evening.

"Sometimes I would stay up until like 1 a.m. and he'd be like 'what are you doing up?' and I'm just like... 'I was waiting for you to come home,'" Jersey Hilliard, 16, said through tears.

The suspect, in this case, has been identified by law enforcement as 20-year-old Austin Davidson who was taken into custody following an extensive manhunt.

Davidson is being held without bond at the Wicomico County Detention Center while awaiting trial on charges of first and second-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and use of a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.

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