Hundreds of mourners lined the halls of a high school in northwest Indiana on Friday, patiently waiting their turn to say goodbye to the 27-year-old Indiana State Police trooper whose slaying they didn’t want to accept.
As they walked through the halls of Kankakee Valley High School in Wheatfield, Ind., they passed pictures of a young Scott Patrick opening Christmas presents, fishing with his family and goofing around with classmates.
As they passed wedding photos of Patrick with his bride, those attending the visitation also were reminded of what would have been the trooper’s future–a pregnant wife carrying a child he would never hold and a new house in Rensselaer he would never live in.
But he was remembered Friday not for the life that could have been. He was recalled as a loving husband and dedicated state trooper who died doing his job.
Patrick was fatally shot near the Grant Street exit of Interstate Highway 80/94 early Monday after stopping to help a stranded motorist, a routine stop similar to one he had made just an hour before.
But this time the motorist, a convicted car thief and drug dealer on parole, was driving a stolen car and didn’t want Patrick’s help, police said. He turned and shot Patrick in the neck, police said.
The motorist, Darryl Jeter, 19, of Chicago, is in Lake County Jail and has been charged with first-degree murder.
State troopers, police officers and National Guardsmen raised their white-gloved hands in salute to Patrick as the American flag was placed over his blue casket. His wife, Melissa, sat nearby with his family, occasionally taking her eyes off her husband, donned in his uniform, to accept condolences.
“Something like this, it’s just like your worst nightmare,” said Patrick’s father, Ron.
Patrick’s father, who wore his National Guard uniform, said his son loved being a trooper, so much so that when they visited every week, Patrick would give his father a play-by-play of his activities at work.
Younger brother Jamie, 24, said he also got an earful.
“Seeing him talk about the things he did as a trooper, the only other time I had seen him that excited was playing football in high school and playing rugby in college,” he said.
A plaque showing Patrick running earlier this year in Washington, D.C., in a relay honoring officers killed in the line of duty hung along a wall.
Patrick kind of fell into being a trooper, his family said. Even though he had a business degree from the University of Southern Indiana, he left his desk job after only a few months, saying it was boring.
When Patrick put on the state police uniform after completing the academy in June 2000, his father said, it just seemed to be a good fit.
Ron Patrick said his daughter-in-law isn’t talking much about the future.
“We’ll miss Scott. We’ll keep his memory,” he said. “We’re going to honor him. And the best way to honor him is to just help take care of his child and his wife.”
