GEORGETOWN, Del. - Seventeen years after Georgetown Police Patrolman Chad Spicer was shot and killed in the line of duty, the department and community gathered Monday to honor his life and sacrifice on a date police say remains permanently tied to the town’s history.
Spicer was 29 years old when he was killed on Sept. 1, 2009, while responding to a report of shots fired near Route 113.
Georgetown Police Chief Ralph Holm said the anniversary carries particular weight for officers who were with the department at the time.
“September 1st is obviously etched into the history of the town of Georgetown,” Holm said. “And unfortunately, I was a part of it. And there’s a very few officers left in the agency that were here when it happened.”
Spicer and then-Cpl. Shawn Brittingham were responding to the call when they encountered a vehicle connected to the incident. A gunman inside the vehicle opened fire into the police vehicle, killing Spicer and wounding Brittingham.
Holm said Spicer was remembered within the department as someone who brought energy and positivity to the job.
“Chad was very personable and usually lighten up the room,” Holm said. “And I mean that in a comedic way, as much as positivity. Like, he loved coming to work.”
Holm said the shooting also remains a reminder to younger Georgetown officers that even routine days can change quickly.
He said many of the officers currently serving with the department were not there when Spicer was killed. As part of their field training after graduating from the police academy, new Georgetown officers meet Spicer’s mother, Ruth Ann Spicer.
Holm said she tells them about her son and gives each officer a 983 pin in his memory. The pin is worn as part of the department’s uniform.
The department’s annual remembrance took on additional meaning this year with Spicer’s memorial once again standing on The Circle.
The monument was heavily damaged in November 2023 when a drunken driver crashed into it. Its absence could be felt during ceremonies that followed, Holm said.
“When they were missing, every ceremony we had on the Circle was empty,” Holm said. “The family, when we had this event, you know, laying a wreath in an empty spot, knowing that a monument once stood there. So, it was empty in that way.”
The memorial was restored and returned to The Circle in August, nearly three years after the crash. It was placed farther toward the center of The Circle in an effort to better protect it from vehicle crashes.
Georgetown also restored a memorial honoring former Police Chief Harvey Gregg Jr., who died in the line of duty in 1998.
Gregg served Georgetown for more than 30 years. He suffered a heart attack while directing traffic for a funeral procession on The Circle, fell and struck his head. He died two days later.
Gregg’s memorial was also damaged in a separate crash in July 2024 before being restored and returned alongside Spicer’s.
Holm said the department continues to honor both officers while making sure their stories are passed to newer generations of police.
“It’s not just an event,” Holm said. “It’s definitely heart and soul for me, who was here when it happened.”
For Holm and the few officers still with the department who remember Sept. 1, 2009 firsthand, Monday’s ceremony was another opportunity to remember a colleague and friend.
For the officers who came after, Holm said it is also a lesson in the history they now carry with them.
“And so for us, it’s very important that we carry this on,” Holm said.
