An Illinois state trooper was killed in the line of duty Thursday near the city of Freeport, Illinois, police stated.
Trooper Brooke Jones-Story, 34, changed into killed Thursday while analyzing a semi-truck on US Route 20 westbound, just west of Illinois Route seventy-five in Stephenson County, police stated.
Jones-Story became outdoor of her squad vehicle when she changed into struck and fatally wounded whilst another semi-truck struck her squad car and the semi she changed into analyzing, police said. Both trucks caught fire.
Jones-Story’s loss of life comes days after Governor JB Pritzker introduced renewed efforts to enforce Scott’s Law in reaction to the variety of accidents injuring state soldiers. The regulation requires drivers to gradually slow down and pass over for emergency vehicles. The regulation, enacted in 2002, was named after Lieutenant Scott Gillen, a Chicago firefighter, who was struck and killed by an intoxicated driver while responding to a crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
“No driving force wishes to get to their destination so speedily that they wish to position a trooper’s life at hazard,” Pritzker said during a press conference about the law on Monday.
Jones-Story’s death also falls on the 6th anniversary of every other officer, Trooper James Sauter, who changed into killed on the tri-kingdom close to Northbrook in 2013 while a truck motive force fell asleep on the wheel. That driver was sentenced to two years in jail.
Thursday’s crash provides an alarming trend, with at least 15 national troopers being hit along Illinois roads to date in 2019 – quite a number that is almost double the total of eight soldiers struck in all of 2018.
“Today is a dark day for the Illinois State Police circle of relatives,” said Brendan Kelly, acting director of the Illinois State Police. “How regularly does this have to occur? How many more must be hurt or killed? When’s enough, enough?”
The driving force of the vehicle that struck Jones-Story has been stated as a violation of Scott’s Law and flawed lane usage, police said.
“The males and females of this department, particularly the soldiers and associates of trooper Jones-Story, are sad, hurting, and they may be irritated,” Kelly said.
At the crash scene, which is about an hour west of Chicago, country troopers gave Jones-Story, a 12-12 months veteran of the ISP, one very last salute.
ISP also shared statistics approximately how to make donations to Jones-Story’s circle of relatives.
Donations can be made at the Illinois State Police Heritage Foundation’s website. If donating online, please be aware of the “Trooper Brook Jones-Story Memorial Fund” within the comments segment.
