DELAWARE -The Tunnel to Towers Foundation announced on Monday their plans to pay off the mortgage on the home of Delaware State Police Cpl. Matthew T. “Ty” Snook, who was shot and killed in the line of duty days before Christmas.
Snook, 34, was fatally shot Dec. 23 while working an overtime shift at a Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles office south of Wilmington. Authorities have said Snook was shot from behind and, in his final moments, pushed a DMV employee out of harm’s way before being shot again.
He is survived by his wife and their 1-year-old daughter.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation said it aims to have the family’s mortgage paid in full by New Year’s Day.
“Corporal Snook’s final act was not to seek safety for himself, but to get a stranger out of harm’s way,” said Frank Siller, chairman and CEO of the foundation. “The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is honored to stand with the family he leaves behind and ensure that his courage, selflessness and bravery will never be forgotten.”
The Snook family’s mortgage payoff will be the first of 343 mortgage-free homes the foundation plans to deliver in 2026. The initiative honors the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 343 New York City firefighters who died that day.
The homes will be provided through the foundation’s Fallen First Responder Home Program, Smart Home Program for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, and Gold Star Family Home Program for families of fallen service members.
Tunnel to Towers said each home represents a commitment to honor those who died in service and to support the families they left behind.