A Hancock County Sheriff deputy died early Thursday morning after he was struck and killed by a motorist on Route 3 in Trenton, just south of Ellsworth.

According to a press release from the sheriff’s department, Deputy Luke Gross responded to a call of a vehicle that had gone off the road shortly before 4 a.m. While at the scene and out of his police vehicle, Gross was struck by another vehicle. He did not survive his injuries.

Gross was a veteran of 18 years with the sheriff’s department and a longtime DARE officer in local schools as well. He leaves behind a wife and two children.