DELMAR - People visited the Delmar Police Department all day Thursday to lay flowers, photos, hats and other mementos on Corporal Keith Heacook's police car. Delaware State Police says the fallen officer's organs will be recovered Friday, less than a week after he was brutally beaten in the line of duty.
Cpl. Heacook worked for the Delmar Police Department for more than two decades and was in the process of retiring to work at Salisbury University.
Maria Salazar and her daughter laid a wreath on Cpl. Heacook's car to thank the fallen hero for keeping them safe.
"We need him," Salazar says. "Whenever something is going on, we can call the police station and they're there for us."
Angel Calloway knew the Delmar Officer for years and was on scene Sunday morning after he was assaulted.
"We pretty much looked into the eyes of a monster," Calloway says. "We should never have one officer go on a call that is a domestic in today's society."
Delaware House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf and Representative Steve Smyk are both former cops who have had friends die in the line of duty. They understand why Cpl. Heacook responded alone to that Sunday morning call.
"That officer made sure that whoever did that to those people was not going to do that to anyone else within the time that he could respond," Smyk says. "He's not going to wait for an army."
The Gift of Life Donor Program says there are over 5,000 people in the region who are waiting for organs and that once someone is pronounced brain dead, they are monitored on a ventilator until matches can be found for their lungs, liver or kidneys. That means Cpl. Heacook could save other lives very soon.
"Being an organ donor is one of the most charitable things that you think you can ever do in your life," says VP of Clinical Service Rick Hasz. "One organ donor can help save the life of eight individuals and tissue donations can help over 100 people restore health."
Governors Hogan and Carney have ordered flags fly at half-staff in both states.
The community support stretches all the way to Lewes with Cpl. Heacook remembered at Thursday morning's chamber of commerce breakfast.
"To wear the uniform means that you value your service to others before yourself and that says a lot I think," says Representative Schwartzkopf. "It says a lot about the individual. You know all I can think about is the 11 year old boy growing up without his father now. It's totally unnecessary."
More events are planned to honor Cpl. Heacook. Zechariah from Running for Heroes will run one mile in Florida carrying a flag for the officer Thursday night.
A fundraising softball tournament is planned for Saturday and Sunday at the Mason Dixon Sports Complex in Delmar.