Beloved Actor Fatally Shot While Helping Stranger Escape Domestic Incident: 'That's What Heroes Do' By Sean Neumann

A beloved local actor from Richmond, Va., is being remembered as a “hero” who died trying to help others, just days after he was reportedly shot and killed while trying to de-escalate a domestic dispute.

Adam Turck was fatally shot early Saturday morning and was kept alive for a period to donate his organs, local outlets WTVR, WRIC, and WWBT reported.

“Adam will be 35 years old when he passes in the next few days, after donating his organs to help save the lives of others,” Turck’s family told WTVR in a statement before he was officially pronounced dead. “That’s what heroes do — they save the lives of others.”

The outlet reported that Turck was walking his dog when he happened upon a domestic dispute between a man and a woman. Turck attempted to step in and de-escalate the situation, but the man fatally shot Turck before shooting and killing himself, according to WTVR, citing officials with the Richmond Police Department. 

“Adam put his life on the line to protect someone in need, and we will forever remember him for this sacrifice,” the family’s statement continued. “Although we cannot go into details on the events of this past Saturday due to the nature of the event, we were told that if Adam had not been there, the person he intervened to help would not be with us today.”

WRIC reported that dozens of friends, family, and local community members gathered at the local Firehouse Theater in Richmond to celebrate Turck’s life and career. The local stage actor was memorialized as “a light, both on stage and in every space he entered” in a statement on social media by the Virginia Repertory Theatre, where Turck often performed over the years.

The theater company said its members were “heartbroken by the tragic loss,” and called Turck “a gifted actor, passionate activist, and beloved member of our community.”

“His artistry, integrity, and fierce compassion touched so many of us,” the Virginia Repertory Theatre added. “This is a profound loss we share as a community.”

Throughout his career, Turck had been nominated for multiple Richmond Theatre Community Circle Awards and was named the Best Actor in a Play in 2018 for his role in Hand to God, according to WWBT. Turck was most recently on stage performing in Cadence Theatre’s production of Smoke and was preparing to play Dracula in the upcoming Dracula: A Comedy of Horrors this fall at the Richmond Triangle Players theater, according to the outlet.

Turck was also a prominent member of the Richmond gym Tequila & Deadlifts, which mourned his loss with its own social media post calling the actor a “dear and beloved friend.”

“I cannot explain the size of the hole that has been left, not just in our gym community or our theater communities, but in the fabric of this world to lose somebody like Adam,” gym owner Kerith Rae told WWBT. “He’s the kind of person people write about in books because they want to be that good and he just was. And this world is a duller, darker place without him.”