The annual blood drive in memory of McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Keltner, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2019, was held Saturday and collected over 215 units of blood.
The fifth annual blood drive took place at Sage YMCA in Crystal Lake. It was held by the American Red Cross.
The Keltner family who organized the blood drive thanked everyone for supporting the event and said 218 donations were collected.
Every blood donation saves the lives of up to three people, meaning up to 654 lives can be saved from the blood collected.
Keltner, 35, was working as a Special Deputy for the U.S. Marshal Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force on March 7, 2019.
The task force was attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Floyd E. Brown, of Springfield, who was staying at the Extended Stay America Hotel in Rockford.
When police knocked on the hotel room door where Brown was staying, he opened fire on the officers with a high-powered rifle.
Keltner, along with Brown’s girlfriend, who was in the hotel room with him, both sustained gunshot wounds.
Keltner, 35, was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Brown fled the scene in a vehicle after jumping out his hotel room window.
Illinois State Police and other police agencies chased Brown on Interstate 55 at speeds of over 100 mph until he came to a stop near Lincoln, Illinois after he ran over spike strips.
Brown in March 2022 went on trial for shooting Keltner.
A jury found Brown guilty of all charges except for first-degree murder, which is considered premeditated murder.
The jury, however, found Brown guilty of second-degree murder, which is considered murder that is not premeditated.
Brown faced up to life in prison. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly sentenced him to 55 years in federal prison in August 2022.
Keltner, who had almost 13 years of service with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, left behind his wife and two young children.