Deputy Marshal Thomas ‘Tommy’ Weeks honored for making ‘ultimate sacrifice’
Hundreds gathered Monday morning to honor one of the four law-enforcement officers killed in last Monday’s shootout in Charlotte when a wanted man opened fire on officers trying to arrest him at a home.
During a memorial service at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, they described Deputy Marshal Thomas M. ‘Tommy’ Weeks Jr. as someone who loved his family and was committed to public safety.
Weeks was a 48-year-old father of four from Mooresville. He was part of the U.S. Marshals Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force, which was trying to serve a warrant Monday when the suspect fired on officers, police said.
While Weeks has become a hero after his death, said his wife, Kelly Weeks, he was already a hero to her and her family.
She said he was a devoted father and husband, describing him as a protector who would walk closer to the street when the two were on a sidewalk to protect her from passing cars, and wanting her within arm’s length so he could hold her hand or rub her back.
“I woke up every single day to a man telling me he loved me, ‘You’re the most beautiful woman,’ ‘How lucky I am to have you.’ What he didn’t realize is I was the lucky one.”
She said that after marrying her husband, she became more aware of the sacrifices law enforcement officers make on the job. She said she needs the country to come together to support law enforcement.
“They continue to fight for justice, just like my husband did,” she said. “Thank an officer, every single day.”
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, speaking at the ceremony, said that when he called Kelly Weeks to express condolences in the loss of her husband, he did not expect her to end the call by asking what she could do to support the Marshals Service and the Justice Department in such a sad time.
“I called hoping to lift your spirits. The call ended with you lifting mine, and I know that is what you have been doing all week for both your family and for the U.S. Marshals Service family.
“Mrs. Weeks, I did not have the honor of knowing Tommy, but from everything I have heard about him, I know he would be very proud of you.”
Garland said Weeks loved his family deeply. “I know that no words can adequately describe the pain that you are feeling now. That nothing can undo this horrible loss.”
Weeks was a 13-year veteran of the marshals service, and had been in Charlotte since 2014, according to the marshals service. He started with the service in 2011 in Washington, D.C. Before that, Weeks spent eight years with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Also killed last Monday were Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer and Department of Adult Correction Officers Sam Poloche and William “Alden” Elliott. Four other officers were shot and injured at the home on Galway Drive, and an additional officer was treated for a broken foot.
Law enforcement officers, Garland said, put their lives at risk for the public they serve. “That is what Tommy did every single day during his career in law enforcement.”
Weeks took his work seriously and with care, colleagues said.
Garland, a former federal judge, said federal judges put their lives in the hands of U.S. marshals, who secure federal courthouses, and are the best of what public servants should be — “dedicated, selfless and courageous.
“That is what Tommy did. That is what Tommy was. And that is how he lived his life. And that is how he always will be remembered.”
Weeks and the other officers who died made the ultimate sacrifice, he said.
“Their deaths stand as a stark reminder of the enormous risks our law-enforcement officers face every day, even when making the relatively routine arrests they make every day.”
The loss of the officers means the community will never be the same, but “it will always be safer because of them. There is no more honorable legacy than that.”
Joe Graham, supervisory deputy U.S. marshal in Charlotte, said the turnout for the service was a testament to Weeks’ impact on the community and his country.
“Let it not be in vain, and let us not forget,” he said.
“As members of the United States Marshals Service conducting daily fugitive task force operations … we suppress evil every day,” he said, pausing to collect himself. “But there is a price for this dedication. It requires that we operate in the darkness and maneuver in the shadows so that others may know comfort and safety in the light.”
He said the environment for officers made it difficult not to become skeptical, but witnessing the outpouring of support for the four officers killed last Monday renewed his faith in the community.
He described Weeks as likable, dry-witted, intense and full of conviction, and said Weeks meeting his wife, Kelly, gave him renewed joy in life. “There was a change in Tommy. A softness in his demeanor. A lightness in his walk. A renewed joy in his life. That was Kelly, and we all saw it.”
Kelly Weeks said she and her husband would often look at the stars over Lake Norman.
“The largest and brightest stars actually die … they just burn too fast for the universe to hold them,” she said. “And then in the end, they sacrifice all the parts that made them glow so that other stars are born.”
She said her husband’s star shined fast and bright, and he leaves behind a legacy that will “continue to shape and inspire others.”
