It’s easy to take the work of law enforcement officers for granted.
For most of us, encounters with the police are rare and inconsequential—a traffic violation or some minor offense.
Since the vast majority of us don’t start any trouble, we often don’t stop to think that each day law enforcement officers put their lives on the line to protect us.
Last night, we got a grim reminder in West Virginia of just how dangerous that job can be. One state trooper was shot and killed and another critically injured–both from the Clay County detachment– when they stopped a motorist who was driving erratically along I-79.
According to state police Sgt. Mike Baylous, “Sometime during the traffic stop the suspect obtained a weapon and opened fire.”
A manhunt followed. Deputies from Clay and Roane counties tracked down the suspect and exchanged gunfire. The gunman was killed and a Roane County deputy was injured, though not seriously. A bullet-proof vest may have saved his life.
One trooper dead, one trooper seriously injured and one deputy wounded.
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin said that he and his wife, Joanne, “hold them and their families in our prayers, and ask all West Virginians to join us.”
It’s not clear what led to the shooting, but the tragedy is an awful reminder that every time a police officer puts on his or her uniform and steps into the line of duty, they are at risk.
One hundred and seventy-three law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty in this country last year. In West Virginia earlier this year, Monongalia County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Todd May was killed when a drunk driver trying to evade the police crashed into his cruiser on I-79 north of Morgantown.
As Governor Tomblin said late last night, “The tragedy reminds us of the sacrifices that our law enforcement officers make every day to keep us safe.”
The police often have a thankless job; they deal with everybody from the most dangerous in our communities to drunks involved in domestic disputes to the average person who is just irritated at being pulled over by the police.
But it’s only because they do their jobs as best they can that the rest of us can go about our lives with a reasonable expectation of safety and security.
Last night’s violence is a personal tragedy for the victims’ families, a loss for law enforcement agencies through the state, and an affront to law abiding West Virginians.