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]
WebsiteArchived link to memorial website

Trevor Casper (May 21, 1993 – March 24, 2015) was a state trooper for the Wisconsin State Patrol. On his first solo assignment,[2] Casper was shot and killed[1] in Fond du Lac attempting to apprehend a bank robbery and murder suspect on March 24, 2015.[3]

He was the youngest police officer killed in the line of duty in Wisconsin.[4]

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.[5] In college, he was the student government president and active in the color guard.[6]

Casper began his training to become a Wisconsin State Trooper at the Wisconsin State Patrol Academy at Fort McCoy on July 13, 2014. In December that year, Casper was sworn in as a trooper.[7]

Death

The suspect, Steven Snyder, was believed to have robbed a bank in Wausaukee, Wisconsin earlier on March 24, 2015. Approximately one hour after the bank robbery, Snyder abandoned the vehicle he was driving, shot dead 59-year-old Thomas C. Christ,[8] and stole a 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 Trooper Clarissa Justmann, Sgt. Andrew Hyer, and Capt. Anthony Burrell (the latter become Superintendent of the Wisconsin State Patrol from 2019 to 2022) to their location when Snyder pulled into a Pick 'n Save supermarket 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 left hand.[9] Casper, though mortally wounded, discharged 12 .40-caliber rounds from his Glock duty weapon, and struck Snyder once in the chest, fatally wounding him.[9] Casper was pronounced dead en route to the hospital.

It was announced on July 12, 2016, that Casper would be inducted into the State of Wisconsin Fire & Police Hall of Fame.

The suspect

Police confirmed 38-year-old Steven Timothy Snyder[10] from Michigan shot and killed Casper in the shootout. Snyder was also killed in the exchange of gunfire.[11]

Response and reactions

Before the shooting involving Casper, the Fond du Lac Police Department had been investigating a bank robbery just blocks away. The day following the shooting, Governor Scott Walker issued a statement saying, "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."[12]

References

  1. 1 2 "Trooper Trevor Casper". The Officer Down Memorial Page. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Trooper Casper killed on his first solo assignment". FOX 11 News. March 25, 2015. Archived from the original on March 30, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Wisconsin Trooper Killed in Shootout Was New Academy Grad". ABC News. March 25, 2015. Archived from the original on March 31, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Wisconsin State Patrol: Tuesday was Trooper Casper's first day solo on the job". WITI-FOX 6. March 25, 2015. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
    - "Wisconsin State Patrol memoriam". Wisconsin DOT. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Stunned town mourns trooper who was 'born ready to do this job'". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. March 25, 2015. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Family: Fallen Wisconsin Trooper 'Would do anything for anyone'". WISN 12. March 25, 2015. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Wisconsin State Patrol welcomes 47 new officers to its ranks". Wisconsin DOT. Archived from the original on January 30, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Identified: 59-year-old man found dead in Wausaukee; shot and killed by bank robbery suspect". WITI-FOX 6 News. March 25, 2015. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation Case Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Shooter who killed WI State Trooper had criminal history in Fond du Lac". NBC26. March 26, 2015. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Shooter linked to 1996 hate crime in Fond du Lac". The Fond du Lac Reporter. March 26, 2015. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Governor Scott Walker Releases Statement on the Passing of Trooper Trevor Casper". Governor Scott Walker. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
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