Sheriff's Deputy Kevin J. Tarsia was killed in the line of duty on July 4, 2002 after confronting burgalars who had stolen rifles and handguns from Mess's Fireworks in nearby Great Bend, PA in a Kirkwood parking lot.

Tarsia was a resident of Kirkwood and had been a member of the Kirkwood, NY sheriff's department for 13 years. He was the department's first officer to be killed on duty since it was founded in 1806.

Tarsia was 36.