The grieving wife of Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. “Tommy” Weeks, who was one of four law enforcement officers killed in a shootout with a wanted suspect last week charlotte housespoke about her husband’s killer in front of hundreds of people gathered for his Monday memorial service, including U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
,this tragedy “This was the result of a man who had no regard for human life,” Kelly Weeks said of the killer, 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes Jr.
Hughes died at the scene after fatally shooting Weeks; North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections (NCDAC) officers Sam Poloche and William “Eldon” Elliott, who were members of the USMS Fugitive Task Force with Weeks; and CMPD Officer Joshua Ayer from the second floor of his Galway Drive home in Charlotte on April 29.
four more law enforcement officers Hughes was injured at the scene while attempting to serve a warrant for his arrest. According to North Carolina public records and CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings, the suspect had an “extensive” criminal record.
Kelly Weeks, center, widow of slain Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks Jr., looks on at attendees of her husband’s memorial service at Bojangles’ Coliseum on Monday, May 6, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (Jeff Sinner/The Charlotte Observer via AP)
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Two additional persons of interest – both female, one just 17 years old – were taken into custody. Authorities are still trying to find out if anyone else was involved in the shooting.
Officers recovered an AR-15 rifle, a 40-caliber handgun, magazines and ammunition from the residence, and Jennings said more than 100 rounds of ammunition were fired in the shooting.
Weeks’ wife said, “Tommy’s mission in life was to make the world safer and fight for justice.” “So what do I need? I need this country to come together, support our law enforcement officers so they can continue to fight for justice like my husband did. Thank an officer every day, thank our kids for the police. Encourage officers to be shown proper respect.”
The widowed mother of four hoped her 48-year-old husband’s memories would inspire others to “lift up their fellow brothers and sisters in any law enforcement capacity.”
This undated photo provided by the US Marshals Service shows Thomas M. Weeks. Weeks was a deputy US marshal assigned to the Western District of North Carolina and was one of four officers killed in Charlotte, NC on April 29, 2024. (U.S. Marshals Service via AP)
Weeks said her husband was a devoted father and husband who always walked her inside the road to protect her from traffic and wanted her to stay within his limits.
“I would wake up every day and have a man tell me he loved me, ‘You’re the most beautiful woman,’ ‘I’m so lucky to have you.’ He didn’t realize that I was lucky.”
Weeks would “do anything” to make his loved ones “feel special”, his wife said, including “urging you to drink a Guinness or having a glass of whiskey” and “inviting you to play golf or come to the lake. , or just give you a call to see what you’re doing.”
The agency said Weeks was a 13-year veteran of the Marshals Service and had worked in Charlotte since 2014. After starting his career in law enforcement in Washington, DC, in 2011, he spent eight years with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The home where four law enforcement officers were killed is destroyed in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Four officers were killed in a shootout while trying to execute a search warrant on Monday. (Audrey Conklin/Fox News Digital)
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Her husband’s service exposed Weeks to the risks law enforcement officers take every day to “protect our bubble.”
She said, “As I look at this crowd, I see so many law enforcement officers here to pay their respects. It’s a stark reminder of the sacrifice these men and women make every day.” “If you do not serve or have someone in your family who serves, you sleep peacefully at night knowing that you are protected by many brave men and women.”
Garland told the mourners that he had called Weeks’s wife in hopes of boosting his morale – unexpectedly, he said, she picked up.
“When I called you last Tuesday I wanted to express my deepest condolences to your family on behalf of the Department of Justice,” Garland said. “I hope that I will be able in some way to provide you with comfort and support amid your unimaginable loss. I did not expect that you would end the call by asking me what you can do to support the Marshals Service and the Marshals Service. Justice Department in this hour of immense grief.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland climbs the lectern steps to speak during a memorial service for slain U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks Jr. at Bojangles Coliseum on Monday, May 6, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. Weeks Jr. died during a standoff with a gunman. On Monday, April 29. (Jeff Sinner/The Charlotte Observer via AP)
Last week, former FBI agent Nicole Parker of Miami’s Violent Fugitive Task Force called on Garland and the Justice Department to establish more robust protocols for arrests and takedowns by the agencies it oversees, including the U.S. Marshals.
He compared last week’s shooting to an incident in February 2021, when FBI Special Agents Daniel Alphin and Laura Schwartzenberger were killed while attempting to serve a warrant on a Florida suspect wanted for violent crimes against children.
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(L-R) Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. Weeks, Investigator William “Alden” Elliott, Police Officer Joshua Eyre and Investigator Samuel “Sam” Poloche were killed in a police shooting in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday, April 29, 2024. (U.S. Marshals Service via AP/NCDAC/Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department/Sean Rayford via AP/Getty Images)
He said Garland did not attend his funeral and no formal changes were made to protect federal agents in similar situations in the future.
Like Weeks’s wife, he called for respect for law enforcement officers from both the public and the federal government.
“Until our country wakes up and shows respect, learns the lessons from these tragedies, shares those lessons and makes some changes, this is going to keep happening,” Parker said. “That’s why everyone is leaving – the law enforcement officers don’t feel like anyone is supporting us.”
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President Biden visited Charlotte on Thursday to meet with the families of fallen officers and members of CMPD and wrote in a statement that “we must do more to protect our law enforcement officers.”
“That means funding them — so they have the resources they need to do their job and keep us safe,” the president said in a statement Monday. “And that means taking additional action to address the crisis of gun violence. Now. Leaders in Congress need to take action so we can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require safe storage of guns And we can have universal background checks and a national red pass.” Flag law. It’s enough.”
