PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — In just two days, Illinois will honor a local officer.

April 29 has been deemed “Deputy Nicholas Weist Day” for the fallen officer killed in the line of duty in 2022.

According to the Knox County Board, they approved the resolution — saying Knox County residents are encouraged to remember Weist’s sacrifice.

They said Weist was laying out spike strips at Route 150 and 150th Avenue to stop a Galesburg police car chase when he was struck and killed by suspect Daylon Richardson’s vehicle.

School students from Alwood Elementary were crossing that same highway less than a mile away.

Weist was the first Knox County sheriff’s officer ever killed in the line of duty.

There is also a plan to rename the stretch of highway between Galesburg and Alpha after Weist.