University of Illinois Officer To Be Laid To Rest On Tuesday

University of Illinois Police Lt. Aaron R. Landers

URBANA – A University of Illinois Police Lieutenant killed in an off-duty wreck will be laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon.

The department says a procession honoring Lt. Aaron Landers will begin at The Vineyard Church of Central Illinois on Lincoln Avenue in Urbana. It is scheduled to start around 12:30 p.m.

The procession will make its way to I-74 and turn eastward. It will end at Patterson Cemetery in St. Joseph.

The funeral procession route for Univ. of Illinois Lt. Aaron Landers.

Landers died from injuries suffered in a traffic crash in Champaign on August 23.

During his 24 years at the University of Illinois police force, Landers commanded the bomb squad and led the Community Outreach and Support Team.

Landers also served in the U.S. Air Force.

Flags across Illinois have been lowered to half-staff in honor of Landers.

Reginald Hardwick

Reginald Hardwick is the News & Public Affairs Director at Illinois Public Media. He oversees daily newscasts and online stories. He also manages The 21st Show, a live, weekday talk show that airs on six NPR stations throughout Illinois. He is the executive producer of IPM's annual environmental TV special "State of Change." And he is the co-creator of Illinois Soul, IPM's Black-focused audio service that launched in February 2024. Before arriving at IPM in 2019, he served as News Director at WKAR in East Lansing and spent 17 years as a TV news producer and manager at KXAS, the NBC-owned station in Dallas/Fort Worth. Reginald is the recipient of three Edward R. Murrow regional awards, seven regional Emmy awards, and multiple honors from the National Association of Black Journalists. Born in Vietnam, Reginald grew up in Colorado and is a graduate of the University of Northern Colorado. Email: rh14@illinois.edu Twitter: @RNewsIPM