Titusville, FL – Brevard County Deputy Kevin Stanton, 32, was killed in the line of duty Saturday morning when a semi-truck crushed his patrol car.

Deputy Stanton was driving his patrol car to work on southbound I-95 just north of State Road 50 at around 5:15 a.m., according to News6.

A semi-truck carrying car parts was traveling in the center lane next to Deputy Stanton’s patrol car. The tread of the semi’s front left tire separated, causing the truck to veer left suddenly.

The semi collided with and crushed the deputy’s patrol car, killing him.

The driver of the semi was uninjured.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey said that the incident was a “horrific accident.”

“It’s never easy when you get that phone call at 5:15 in the morning telling you you’ve lost one of your own,” Sheriff Ivey said, according to Florida Today. “You try to put your arms around it, you think about the smile on Kevin’s face. You think about his passion for this job. You think about the 1,500 members of this agency that are each right now gut-punched, trying to grasp what happened.”

Deputy Stanton was a field training officer and had been with the department for more than 10 years. During his time with the department he had received numerous letters of commendation, commendable service awards, and was nominated for a life saving award.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Brevard County Deputy Kevin Stanton, both blood and blue. Godspeed, we will take the watch from here.

Thank you for your service.