Mich. Officer Killed In Chase Remembered As 'Hero'
WALKER (WWJ/AP) - A Walker police officer killed during a chase involving bank robbery suspects is being remembered as a "hero."
Trevor Slot was intentionally run over on Interstate 96 in Ottawa County Thursday as he prepared to deploy spike strips to stop their vehicle. The suspects were shot and killed by police when they fired at officers.
"He was a loyal friend who loved life and made time for anyone and everyone. You couldn't find a better person than Trevor Slot," Brent Dickerson, a friend and high school classmate, told The Grand Rapids Press.
"Trevor was a hero in everything he did," Dickerson said.
Slot graduated from Northview High School and later Ferris State University, where he earned a criminal justice degree.
He leaves behind wife, Kim, and two young daughters.
In the minutes after Slot's death, officers reached Kim at her work at Northview's Crossroads Middle School.
She and the couple's two daughters, ages 6 and 8, were taken to the family's house. More than a dozen cars of friends and family quickly lined the narrow cul-de-sac, and neighbors walked over with home-cooked meals.
Slot had a nine-year career at the Walker police department after serving in Lowell for five years.
On Thursday, Slot left behind his court security duties when he learned of the police chase and that shots were being fired at pursuing officers. The incident began with the robbery in Ravenna, west of Grand Rapids.
Deputies from Muskegon, Kent and Ottawa counties as well as local police were all involved in the chase at some point as it went both eastbound and westbound on I-96. Investigators say the two men in an SUV fired at police patrol cars during the 10-mile chase that reached speeds of over 100 mph.
Slot was along westbound I-96 near the Eighth Avenue off-ramp in Ottawa County preparing to deploy spike strips when he was fatally struck.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
