Chief Deputy Tommy Kent Martin, 59, of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department in Illinois was shot while responding to a home invasion in Camargo on June 21, 2007. As he passed two suspect vehicles, one of the men fired, striking Martin in the face and chest. He was taken to Carle Foundation Hospital and died of his wounds on July 17, 2007.

The incident began when two suspects fled a victim’s home in a pickup and the van of a second victim whose attempt to interrupt the robbery drew them out. After Martin was shot, the suspects led officers on a high-speed chase on Interstate 57, firing at pursuing deputies. They crashed the van; one suspect was apprehended at the scene. The other ran, then took five hostages in a bank and surrendered after a seven-hour standoff.

The shooter received a life sentence for Martin’s murder; the other man was convicted of home invasion and aggravated kidnapping and given two consecutive 30-year terms. Martin, a Navy veteran who had served with the Illinois State Police and had been with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department for three years, is survived by a son, a daughter, a brother, and three grandchildren.

Did anyone in the community have contact with Chief Deputy Martin or remember the response that day?