Wicomico County Sheriff’s Deputy First Class Glenn Hilliard was killed in the line of duty Sunday evening.
His death rippled through Maryland and surrounding states, as local and state leaders gathered in Wicomico County on Monday to offer their condolences, support police and share what happened.
While plans for Hilliard’s funeral have yet to be released, the 42-year-old man leaves behind a wife and three children.
Hilliard’s accused killer, 20-year-old Austin Jacob Allen Davidson, remains in custody without bond on charges of murder, assault, reckless endangerment and felony firearm use in a violent crime.
Deputies were trying to arrest Davidson on multiple felony warrants at the time of the shooting, police said Monday.
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What happened?
According to Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis, deputies received information on Sunday that Davidson – who was wanted by Maryland State Police in several counties, the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and city of Baltimore police – was at the Talbot Apartments complex in Pittsville.
Lewis said law enforcement received “a very unique description” of Davidson, “right down to the type of backpack he had and that it had caution tape on (it).”
Initial responding deputies, called about 8:30 p.m. to the 7400 block of Gumboro Road in Pittsville, did not find Davidson, though about 10 minutes later, Hilliard saw Davidson near a stairwell and drove up to him. When Davidson spotted the deputy, he took off, Lewis said.
Hilliard “pursued him around the side of the apartment complex” toward a wooded area. There, Davidson “turned and fired multiple rounds from a semi-automatic handgun at the deputy, striking him at least once,” Lewis said. Davidson also had a laser sight on him, according to the sheriff.
Lewis said Hilliard did not have time to pull out his department-issued handgun before Davidson shot him.
“No more than” two minutes later, another deputy arrived and tried to save Hilliard, Lewis said. The Pittsville Volunteer Fire Department also quickly arrived and rendered first aid.
Hilliard was taken by ambulance to TidalHealth Peninsula Regional Hospital in Salisbury, where he was declared dead, police said.
Following the shooting, an “extensive manhunt by dozens of law enforcement from throughout the region” began. Shortly after identifying Davidson as a person of interest, he was taken into custody.
He “peacefully surrendered” to police after walking out of a wooded area about a half-mile from the scene of the shooting. The firearm and laser sight was found nearby, Lewis said.
The sheriff’s office did not say what Davidson was wanted for that prompted the initial arrest attempt, though court records show he recently failed to appear in court for various arrests over the last several months.
Who is Austin Davidson?
Davidson’s contact with law enforcement began in at least 2018, when at 17 years old, Maryland State Police issued an alert saying he was missing. He was found in Salisbury three days later, unharmed.
In 2019, Davidson was convicted in Baltimore City of armed robbery and given probation before judgment, meaning his prison sentence was suspended for three years, Lewis said Monday. He had robbed McDonald’s of more than $1,100.
Lewis said he believes that had Davidson still been in prison “where he belonged, our deputy would still be with us here today.”
“We not only have a grieving wife, three beautiful grieving children, but we have a law enforcement family that has been ripped apart,” Lewis said.
Gov. Larry Hogan echoed Lewis on Monday, saying it is “just unacceptable” that Davidson was “out with not serving any jail time for armed robbery.”
“This is just a horrendous crime and tragedy that we have happen far too often,” Hogan said. “These are men and women who go out there every single day to put their lives on the line for the rest of us, to keep the rest of us safe.
“We owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.”
Davidson’s run-ins with the law didn’t end with the 2019 armed robbery conviction.
In Sept. 2021, Davidson was stopped for speeding in Queen Anne’s County. That same month, police found him with misdemeanor amounts of marijuana.
About six months after that, in March, Fruitland Police Department officers charged him for driving without a valid driver’s license. Court records show a trial is slated for June 28.
In April, he was also charged by Ocean City Police Department officers with assault. A trial was slated for May 18 but he failed to appear, court records show. A bond hearing was set for Tuesday.
Last month, Davidson was charged by Maryland State Police in Salisbury with second-degree burglary and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Court records show he had a rifle or shotgun, as well as ammunition. A bail hearing in that case was also slated for Tuesday.
Lewis said Davidson had multiple addresses, with the most recent being in Delmar, Maryland, but that he had recently been staying at the apartment complex near where the shooting occurred.
Who was Deputy Glenn Hilliard?
Hilliard was an 18-year veteran law enforcement officer who “always had a smile on his face” and was “always in a playful mood,” Lewis said.
A “good looking man,” he dressed better “than most people in this office,” Lewis said.
“Every time I saw him I called him smooth because he was just a good looking guy,” the sheriff said.
Hilliard was most recently assigned to the agency’s criminal investigation division where he was “a master of electronics,” Lewis said. He added that Hilliard was thrilled that the sheriff’s office would soon get a new drone.
Hilliard would also fix cell phones for his colleagues, Lewis said.
Hilliard’s death was noted by Wicomico County in a statement announcing flags were to be flown at half-staff in wake of the deputy’s death.
“It is with profound sorrow that the Wicomico County Executive’s Office offers our deepest condolences to the family of Deputy First Class Glenn Hilliard and the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office family,” the statement said. “Hilliard’s death is a solemn reminder of the risks and sacrifices our law enforcement officers are willing to accept in order to keep us safe and to preserve our way of life.”
The county noted it was “distraught and heartbroken and we pray for the strength of his family and friends and the entire community in this incomprehensible and senseless tragedy.”
They also honored all those who have fallen before him, and to “the thin blue line.”
Line-of-duty deaths
Lewis said Monday the sheriff’s office has not had a deputy killed in the line of duty in more than 50 years, since Dec. 8, 1968, when two Wicomico County deputies were fatally shot during a jailbreak.
A sheriff and turnkey were both fatally wounded, and three people were charged in their deaths.
More recently, however, the Maryland and Delaware communities were rocked by the death of Delmar Police Cpl. Keith Heacook in April 2021.
According to court documents, Heacook was dispatched to the 11000 block of Buckingham Drive, in the Yorkshire Estates community, just before 5:15 a.m. on April 25, 2021, for a report of a fight in progress.
BACKGROUND:Man accused of killing Delmar officer Keith Heacook, injuring couple charged with murder
Calls to 911 indicated a man was being disorderly and had attacked an elderly couple, according to court records.
Heacock, who was responding to the incident by himself, was attacked by the man and knocked unconscious. He never regained consciousness and died days later from his injuries.
The man charged with his killing could face life in prison if convicted.
