On the early morning of July 4, 2002, Broome County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin J. Tarsia, 36, was killed while on patrol in Grange Hall Park in Kirkwood, New York. Deputies say Tarsia encountered three men transferring stolen firearms between vehicles—weapons taken in a burglary of a firearms store in Great Bend, Pennsylvania. As he approached, two of the men opened fire, striking him more than a dozen times and then running over him with a vehicle. The attackers also took Tarsia’s service weapon and other items from his patrol car before fleeing.

Tarsia was a 13-year veteran of the department and the first Broome County deputy killed in the line of duty since the department’s founding. A multi-agency investigation involving more than 100 officers from about 15 agencies led to the identification and capture of three suspects: David Sweat, 22; his cousin Jeffrey A. Nabinger Jr., 22; and Shawn J. Devaul, 23. Sweat and Nabinger were charged with first-degree murder, while Devaul, who was present and armed but did not fire, faced weapon-possession charges. The case devastated the community and remains a focal point for anyone who remembers that patrol in Kirkwood. Did anyone see activity in Grange Hall Park that morning or have information about the suspects’ movements before the shooting?