A Lewis County sheriff's deputy died Tuesday night of injuries sustained almost exactly 24 hours earlier when his patrol cruiser hit an elk near Packwood. Deputy Stephen "Mike" Gallagher, Adna, died at 8:05 p.m. He was 34.

Gallagher had been rushed by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after the crash at 8:23 p.m. Monday. He was on his way to back up another officer for a domestic violence call when he hit the elk near mile post 130 on U.S. Highway 12.

The deputy had worked for the sheriff's office for six years. He started work in the Lewis County Jail in July 2003. He was hired as a deputy sheriff in September 2007 and graduated from law enforcement academy in January 2008.

Gallagher was also an Army veteran. He served eight years in the military, including in Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti and Operation Joint Guardian in Kosovo as a staff sergeant and squad leader.

He was married and leaves behind two young children.

Sheriff Steve Mansfield plans to make a statement on Gallagher's death at a noon press conference.

The last sheriff's office employee to die while on duty was Deputy Richard Alfred Snider, who had a heart attack while on duty at the jail. Before that, Deputy Ernest Runke died after an assault in September 1957. Two other line-of-duty deaths are listed in records from 1937 and 1919.