REMARKS: Senator Coons honors fallen Delaware State Police Corporal Grade One Matthew “Ty” Snook

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) spoke on the Senate floor today to honor the life of Corporal Grade One Matthew "Ty" Snook, who was killed in the line of duty on December 23, 2025, at a Wilmington Division of Motor Vehicles office.

Corporal Snook was a loving friend, brother, husband, and father whose life was rooted in care for others and devotion to his state and family. Senator Coons is profoundly grateful for Corporal Snook's heroism and his sacrifice.

A video of Senator Coons' remarks is available here.

A transcript of Senator Coons' remarks are below:

Senator Coons: "I am anxious to begin a life of service, a life of commitment to making Delaware a safer place to live and to work and to raise a family." Delaware State Police Corporal Grade One Ty Snook wrote those words as a cadet late in his time in the police academy, and it laid out his vision for the life he lived committed to protecting and serving the people of my home state.

Two days before Christmas, Corporal Snook volunteered to work an extra shift at the DMV. He was working to make some extra money for his wife and young daughter. He was volunteering to protect people so that they could make it home to their families in the rush before Christmas. He never made it home to his. A gunman walked into the DMV and, from a blind angle, shot and killed Corporal Snook. His last act, pushing a DMV employee behind him - shielding their life with his own.

What makes a hero? Someone whose instinct is protection, someone whose service is about loving others, even when faced with mortal pain and fear. Corporal Snook's family and friends knew a hero.

But his last actions were not all that he was. He was a father to Letty. A husband to Lauren. A big brother to his brother, Josh. A big brother to his sister, Kassi. A son to Matthew and Karen. A friend to so many. A person with a big heart and a big personality who was always the center of attention and fun, but who dedicated his time to celebrating the successes of others and mentoring others. A standout athlete, he was a Delaware state wrestling champion. At Saint Mark's, he improved and improved and improved in his wrestling and then went to the University of Maryland on a wrestling scholarship, a D1 school, a great program. He knew how to make everyone feel at ease and to laugh, how to help others by showing them the way. He stood out for his mentorship of others, his celebrating his teammates' victories and successes and improvements as much as his own. His sister, Kassi, said, Ty "always did the right thing," and his brother, Josh, said, "All I ever wanted was to be more like him." His brother Josh also serves in the Delaware State Police.

Corporal Snook is from a remarkable family, a family driven by service and love and courage, and they are today suffering through pain no one should know or endure. But they are so like every other law enforcement family in our nation, for when a member of law enforcement puts on their badge and their gun and goes out to serve, the heart of those who love them goes with them - their children, their spouse, their parents - they wait anxiously to hear that they've returned home safe at the end of the shift.

Corporal Snook also saw and built strength in his second family, his brothers and sisters in the Delaware State Police. He was an FTO - he was a field training officer for 20 state troopers, a remarkable number. Because he was such a good mentor, he was committed to the next generation of our state's troopers. In our state of neighbors, a loss of one is a loss to all. But at his funeral service, his memorial at the University of Delaware, there must have been a thousand people present. Law enforcement officers from every state in our country - hundreds and hundreds from all of our major agencies in our state and our region, and hundreds of us honored just to be in the room from our community.

In what was a powerful and moving service, nothing struck home as much as the powerful words of Lauren, his widow. Lauren said, "God does not waste suffering." She had one ask of all of us who heard her words: "Tell the people you love that you love them." "Say the words. Make the call. Leave the voicemail" - because you never know when it will be your last chance to say that. Lauren's words were incredible and powerful. Anyone seeking to hear the strength and the heart and the conviction of the law enforcement community and in particular, spouses, should go and watch Lauren's words. They were incredible. Lauren, your words found a home in my heart and in the hearts of all who heard them. And I wanted to just bring Ty's memory - Corporal Snook's memory - to this floor, this Senate, and to reference your incredible service and sacrifice and remarks today so that your love, your determination to support and remember and celebrate your hero could travel further, could touch the lives of more who need and deserve to hear about you, about Ty, about your family.

Senator Blunt Rochester and I have introduced a resolution of the Senate honoring Corporal Snook's life and bravery so that we can do our small part to ensure his legacy remains and travels further.

To Corporal Snook, I want to come back to those words you wrote so many years ago as a cadet. And I hope you know that you succeeded - that you fulfilled your mission and your dream, that you made Delaware safer, that you served with honor, that our state was blessed to have you for the time we did. Better to live your life as a hero, better to live your life honorably, better to live your life loving and being loved by others, than to live a long and peaceful life that amounts to little.

I want to leave you with some words from the gospel according to John, the 14th chapter, 27th verse: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid."

I am so grateful for the service and sacrifice of Corporal Ty Snook of the Delaware State Police - a peacemaker, a hero, someone who deserves to be a legend in our national law enforcement community. May the God of love welcome you into his arms.