Editor’s Note: The following story was recently featured on the Eyewitness News true crime show, “The Thread with Jim Hagerty.”
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Rockford Police Detective Kevin Rice was off duty when he spotted two suspicious men walking through his sister’s neighborhood during the early morning hours of Aug. 3, 2001.
The 38-year-old veteran officer was driving near his sister’s home around 1:30 a.m. when he turned his vehicle around to investigate. As Rice approached the men, one of them pulled out a handgun and opened fire, shooting the detective six times in the chest. Rice died behind the wheel of his vehicle. He was a 14-year veteran of the Rockford Police Department and a member of its gang unit…