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Trevor Casper

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Trevor Casper
Wisconsin State Trooper
BornMay 21, 1993
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States
DiedMarch 24, 2015 (age 21)
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Police career
DepartmentWisconsin State Patrol
Service years3 months
StatusDeceased
RankTrooper
Badge no.2605[1]
Websitewww.troopercasper.org

Trevor Casper (May 21, 1993 – March 24, 2015) was a state trooper for the Wisconsin State Patrol. On his first solo assignment in uniform,[2] Trooper Casper was shot and killed[3] in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin while attempting to apprehend a bank robbery and murder suspect on March 24, 2015.[4]

He was the youngest police officer killed in the line of duty in Wisconsin history [5] and the youngest sworn member of the Wisconsin State Patrol.[6]

Early life and career

Casper was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and later moved to Kiel with his family where he was a 2011 graduate of Kiel High School and was on the school's soccer and wrestling teams. He studied at Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wisconsin where he graduated in May 2014 with a degree in criminal justice.[7] During his time in college, he was the student government President and active in the color guard.[8]

Casper began his training to become a Wisconsin State Trooper at the Wisconsin State Patrol Academy located at Fort McCoy on July 13, 2014. Troopers generally patrol highways to enforce traffic safety and criminal laws. In December of that year, Casper along with 46 other cadets were sworn in as troopers during a graduation ceremony.[9]

Death

The suspect, Steven Snyder, was believed to have robbed a bank in Wausaukee, Wisconsin earlier in the day on March 24, 2015. Approximately one hour after the bank robbery, Snyder abandoned the vehicle he was driving, shot dead a 59-year-old man named Thomas Christ,[10] and stole his second vehicle.

Casper located the second vehicle as it was being driven southbound on Interstate 41 in Fond du Lac and began following it. He was directing other officers to their location when Snyder pulled into a grocery store parking lot and stopped. Snyder discharged nine 5.7mm shots from an FN Five-seven pistol at Casper, who was hit by three rounds in the neck, chest, and hand. Casper, though mortally wounded, was able to return fire. He discharged 12 .40-caliber rounds from his Glock duty weapon, and struck Snyder once in the back, fatally wounding him. Casper was pronounced dead en-route to the hospital.

Funeral services for Casper were held on March 29, 2015 at the Kiel High School.[11] Thousands took part in the visitation including police officers from across the country.[12] A private burial followed on Monday, March 30 at SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery in Kiel. Minutes into the burial, police officers providing security at the cemetery noticed a 56-year-old man from Kiel walk past the cemetery borders carrying a bag with a protruding unknown object.[13] Officers approached the man, questioned him and attempted to escort him from the cemetery to avoid disrupting Casper’s burial service. The man became verbally abusive and resisted officers. Officers had to use physical force to take him into custody and remove him from the scene.[14]

A memorial fund, Benefit for Wisconsin Trooper Trevor Casper has been established for Casper.[15][16] $42,550 was raised since March 25, 2015.[17]

Casper will be honored at the 2016 police memorial ceremonies in Madison, Wisconsin and Washington, D.C. for officers killed in the line of duty.[18]

The suspect

Police confirmed 38-year-old Steven Timothy Snyder[19] from Michigan shot and killed Casper in the shootout. Snyder was also killed in the exchange of gunfire. In 1996, a 19-year-old Snyder was a member of a white supremacy group that called itself "The Fond du Lac Boot Boys." Snyder and eight others were arrested after a fight broke out involving skinheads, blacks and Hispanics outside a Fond du Lac house.[20] After Snyder pleaded no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct, a Fond du Lac County Circuit Court Judge ordered that he serve a 50-day jail sentence.

Response and reactions

The Fond du Lac Reporter first broke news of an officer down on its website followed by live-tweeting of the incident. Before the shooting involving Casper, the Fond du Lac Police Department was investigating a bank robbery just blocks away. There was a stunned reaction to the shooting of Casper across the state. The following day, Governor Scott Walker issued this statement:[21] "Trooper Trevor Casper was killed while bravely serving his community and doing his duty to keep our citizens safe. Tonette and I are praying for Trooper Casper's family and our thoughts are with them and the broader law enforcement community at this difficult time." A number of elected officials issued statements on Casper's death including Congressman Glenn Grothman[22] and U.S. senator Ron Johnson.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Trooper Trevor Casper". The Officer Down Memorial Page. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Trooper Casper killed on his first solo assignment". FOX 11 News. March 25, 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  3. ^ "Trooper Trevor Casper". The Officer Down Memorial Page. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Wisconsin Trooper Killed in Shootout Was New Academy Grad". ABC News. March 25, 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Wisconsin State Patrol: Tuesday was Trooper Casper's first day solo on the job". WITI-FOX 6. March 25, 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Wisconsin State Patrol memoriam". Wisconsin DOT. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Stunned town mourns trooper who was 'born ready to do this job'". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. March 25, 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Family: Fallen Wisconsin Trooper 'Would do anything for anyone'". WISN 12. March 25, 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  9. ^ "Wisconsin State Patrol welcomes 47 new officers to its ranks". Wisconsin DOT. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Identified: 59-year-old man found dead in Wausaukee; shot and killed by bank robbery suspect". WITI-FOX 6 News. March 25, 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Services set for Sunday for slain trooper Trevor Casper". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. March 26, 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Trooper Trevor Casper's Funeral". Wisconsin Public Safety Photo Library. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Police: 56-year-old Kiel man arrested during Trooper Trevor Casper's burial service". WITI-FOX 6. March 30, 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  14. ^ "Man arrested for disrupting trooper's burial service". Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter. March 30, 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Kiel Trooper memorial fund established". Herald Times Reporter. March 26, 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  16. ^ "Fundraiser for slain Wisconsin State Trooper Trevor Casper". WTAQ. March 26, 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  17. ^ "State Trooper Trevor Casper Memorial Fund". GoFundMe. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  18. ^ "Trooper Casper will be honored in law enforcement ceremonies in 2016". FOX11. April 1, 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  19. ^ "Shooter who killed WI State Trooper had criminal history in Fond du Lac". NBC26. March 26, 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  20. ^ "Shooter linked to 1996 hate crime in Fond du Lac". The Fond du Lac Reporter. March 26, 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  21. ^ "Governor Scott Walker Releases Statement on the Passing of Trooper Trevor Casper". Governor Scott Walker. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  22. ^ "Grothman Statement On Tragic Death Of Wisconsin State Trooper Trevor Casper". Congressman Glenn Grothman. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  23. ^ "Reaction to death of Trooper Trevor Casper". FOX 11 News. March 25, 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.

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