Lumberton, NC – Lumberton Police Department Officer Jason Quick was killed in the line of duty on Saturday morning, when a car slammed into him as he was helping a stranded driver at another crash scene.

“He was investigating a totally different crash,” Lumberton Police Deputy Chief Tommy Barnes told WLOS. “It was a rear-end collision with two vehicles, and he was in the process of investigating that accident when he was involved in this accident.”

The incident occurred at approximately 6:53 a.m. at Exit 22 on Interstate 95 North, police said.

Officer Quick, 31, was walking from an inside traffic lane towards the shoulder of the roadway to help a motorist involved in the first collision, when 24-year-old Kadejera Inman slammed into him with her 2017 Hyundai, WBTW reported.

His cousin, a North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper, was among the first responders who rushed to his aid after the fatal collision, according to WTVD.

Officer Quick was rushed to Southeastern Regional Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries, WGHP reported.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol and a Robeson County District Attorney’s Office investigator are handling the ongoing investigation, according to WTVD.

Officer Quick, a former firefighter, joined LPD approximately 18 months ago.

“He went to basic law enforcement training and graduated in April 2017, and we hired him in June 2017,” Chief Barnes told WBTW. “He did a good job. He had a great attitude, and was just a good person.”

“I saw a lot of great potential with him,” he told WGHP. “He loved his job, and was good at it.”

Officer Quick leaves behind his wife, Lea, and their two young children, Madison and Jaden.

“He loved God, his family and the Lumberton Police Department,” Lea told WTVD. “I believe that Jason was called to be a police officer, and I’m pretty sure that anybody that worked with him would say the same thing.”

“Every day he went to work I hugged him and kissed him and told him I loved him,” the grieving widow explained. “The very last thing you want is an officer to show up at your door – not your husband – but another police officer to tell you about your husband.”

Officer Quick will be laid to rest on Thursday, WITN reported.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Lumberton Police Officer Jason Quick, both blood and blue. Thank you for your service.

Rest easy, hero. We’ll hold the line from here.