CSI star Paul Guilfoyle, who has played Captain Jim Brass for all 14 seasons of the show, will be leaving CSI in the season 14 finale, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Guilfoyle is only one of two actors who has been a season regular from the first episode of CSI and has been in 312 episodes of the series, only missing a handful of episodes altogether.

“Paul made Capt. Brass a standout character,” CSI executive producers Carol Mendelsohn and Don McGill said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “He is not just an original cast member, he is an original. In a show about forensics, fans always looked forward to the handcuffs coming out, and Capt. Brass putting his spin on the crime of the week, just as Paul Guilfoyle put his indelible stamp on the character and the show. He will be missed.”

Guilfoyle, who found out late last week that his character would be written out of the show, made an emotional speech on the CSI set during Friday’s final day of production.

Twitter reaction has been quick and intense, with most saying it was a sad, sad day that Paul Guilfoyle and the character he plays, Captain Jim Brass, are leaving the show.

Really sad that #PaulGuilfoyle is leaving @CSI_CBS at the end of the season. The show won't be the same without him! #CSI

— Jo Ann M. (@JoAnn0924) March 25, 2014

Aww.. #csi won't be the same. Best of luck. http://t.co/9QL7UpcMGr

— Amelia Anne Imagna (@aimagna1234) March 25, 2014

Say it ain't so….#actor Paul Guilfoyle is leaving @CSI_CBS after 14-seasons. #sad

— Ilyssa Panitz (@IlyssaPanitz) March 25, 2014

Crime Scene Investigation, otherwise known as CSI, is a procedural cop show that focuses on a forensic science team in Las Vegas, as well as their superiors and colleagues.

It has had many cast changes in its 14-year run that started in October 6, 2000. It has spawned multiple spinoffs, with CSI: Miami and CSI: New York being the two most prominent. The season 14 finale, Paul Guilfoyle’s last episode, airs on May 7.

Image via Wikimedia Commons