A South Jacksonville police officer has died as a result of a Friday night crash.
According to the South Jacksonville Police Department Facebook page, Officer Scot Fitzgerald succumbed to injuries sustained in an accident while responding to a medical call.
According to information from the Illinois State Police, the accident happened on Route 267 just a mile north of Nortonville Road in Morgan County shortly before 9 p.m.
State police say Fitzgerald was traveling southbound, with a Lifestar ambulance behind the squad car responding to the same call. Police say Fitzgerald was unable to locate the subject of the call, pulled to a shoulder and then U-turned into the path of the ambulance, being struck on the driver’s side.
Police say Fitzgerald suffered fatal injuries as a result. The driver of the ambulance, 21-year-old Brady Milnes of Roodhouse, and two others in the vehicle, sustained minor injuries.
State police say an investigation is pending.
In a statement by the South Jacksonville Police Department on Facebook, police chief Josh Hallock says, the department “stands in support of Officer Fitzgerald’s family during and long after this tragedy. Our hearts are broken. When arrangements are made, we will post them here.”