A 12-year veteran of the city police force and a father of two — was fatally shot Friday afternoon. He was pursuing a car that had sped away from his motorcycle during an attempted traffic stop on Interstate 105, police said.
Authorities arrested the woman who allegedly killed Kilcullen following a standoff with a police SWAT team that cornered her east of Lowell. That was after she allegedly led officers on a 20-mile chase to the rural area after fleeing the scene of the shooting, which occurred about 4:30 p.m. along the Highway 126 Expressway in Springfield’s Thurston area.
Officials released few new details about the incident, except to announce that the suspected shooter, 56-year-old Cheryl D. Kidd of Springfield, was charged with aggravated murder and remained in the Lane County Jail, without bail. Kidd is the alleged driver of a Buick Skylark that failed to yield in a traffic stop at 4:30 p.m. Friday, say police, and after Kilcullen cornered the vehicle at a traffic light, the driver fired at least one shot from a handgun. Police say he did not have the chance to draw his weapon or return fire.

During a brief but somber news conference held less than six hours after the shooting, Eugene Police Chief Pete Kerns spoke of Kilcullen’s “honorable career” with the department and recalled the officer as a “very popular guy” who was “relentlessly positive and upbeat.”
While Springfield police handle the shooting investigation, Kerns and his officers are mourning Kilcullen’s death. “Our department is grieving, along with his family,” said Kerns of Kilcullen, who was born and raised in Eugene and earned a sociology and psychology degree from the University of Oregon, left behind a wife, Kristie, their daughter, Katie, and Kristie’s daughter from a previous marriage, 11-year-old Sidney, and other extended family members.