Las Vegas, NV – City of Las Vegas Department of Public Safety Correctional Officer Kyle Eng died in the line of duty on July 19th, after he was found unconscious inside the city jail facility.

Officials are now saying that his death came after a fight with an inmate, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The officials declined to say if the altercation led to Correctional Officer Eng’s death.

The correctional officer’s official cause of death is pending an autopsy by the Clark County Coroner’s office, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

After he was found unconscious, Correctional Officer Eng, 51, was rushed to the University Medical Center, but could not be revived, KVVU reported.

The incident was the Las Vegas City Jail’s first line of duty death, KLAS reported.

Correctional Officer Eng joined the agency in January, after working as a truck driver for a dairy company.

“From every person I’ve spoken with, everybody spoke highly of him,” Injured Police Officer’s Fund spokesperson Tom Ratzsch said. “I talked to some officers…that worked with him and every day he talked [about his] family.”

“It’s very tragic…he was the backbone of his family,” Ratzsch said.

Correctional Officer Eng leaves behind his wife, Arlyn, their three daughters, nine grandchildren, and has a tenth grandchild on the way, according to KLAS.

“You were, you are and you ALWAYS will be…our Superman, our protector, our dad, the strong arms that always held us together and kept us strong, and now our guardian angel,” his daughter, Alyssa Eng, wrote in a Facebook post. “Please guide and continue to keep us strong as you watch over us.”

“It’s so hard to be without you dad…I miss randomly coming up to you and hugging you and you talking to me about all of my problems and giving me the best advice. Your words were always the best,” she wrote. “I promise to always be there for mom, even though there is a hole so deep that nothing nor no one could ever fill it. I promise to raise my sons to stand for everything that you stood for. I love you so much dad.”

The Injured Police Officer’s Fund has established a donation account to help assist Correctional Officer Eng’s family in the wake of their loss.