RECON5
8 August 2000, 09:30
copied from State Association Email Service.
KYLE — A Department of Public Safety trooper clung to life in an Austin
hospital late Thursday after he was shot in the head after stopping a
driver for allegedly not wearing a seat belt, DPS officials said.
Trooper Randall Vetter, 28, was rushed to Austin's Brackenridge Hospital
after the morning shooting on an access road of Interstate 35 just south of
here. The trooper, married with an 8-month-old child, recently was
transferred to the San Marcos station from New Braunfels.
A 72-year-old Kyle man, toting an assault-style weapon, was arrested at the
scene within minutes.
Melvin Edison Hale was charged with attempted capital murder of a peace
officer and late Thursday was being held in Hays County Jail in lieu of
posting a $1 million bond.
Vetter pulled Hale over just before 10:30 a.m. Thursday on the access road
that runs west of I-35. Hale was ticketed at the same spot on Oct. 14,
1999, also for not wearing a seat belt, and had not paid the ticket.
DPS spokesman Mike Cox said Vetter was in his car writing the ticket. The
gunman, toting an assault-style rifle, walked up to the trooper's car and
fired a single shot through the windshield, striking Vetter in the head.
Vetter fell sideways out of his car onto the road.
Cox said investigators believed Hale used the radio in Vetter's patrol car
to call police and tell them of the shooting.
Police converged on the scene within two minutes.
Bullock said Hale is not a member of any militant group. He said Hale
failed to file some paperwork with the county and lost the agricultural
exemption on the ranch, causing a staggering increase in this year's tax bill.
"He wanted to live a free life alone with his mother," Bullock said,
"without fear of being arrested for not wearing a seat belt or losing his
land over taxes.
"He was upset about that last ticket and he never did pay it. He felt it
was an infringement on his freedom to be told he had to wear a seatbelt.
"I know he believes God will see him through this and God is on his side,
but I am afraid he will spend the rest of his life in jail," he said.
At the scene of the shooting, more than 50 officers from area law
enforcement agencies gathered throughout the afternoon.
Cox said it was the first shooting of a DPS officer since an ambush in
Atascosa County last October. Killed then in one of the bloodiest rampages
against Texas law enforcement officers were Trooper Terry Miller, 37, and
Atascosa County sheriff's Deputies Thomas Monse, 31, and Mark Stephenson, 32.
"It is unusual for anybody that age to be involved in any kind of crime,"
Cox said. "I cannot recall a critical shooting over a seat belt violation."
Although Cox termed Hale's rifle an "assault-style" weapon and "a gun
designed for killing," he said there was no indication it was an illegal gun.
He said Vetter was out of surgery, but still in critical condition late
Thursday.
"The doctors say the next 48 hours are critical for him," he said.
This DPS Trooper died late Monday night 8/8/2000, and funeral arrangements are pending.
Just a moment for a fellow professional.
REMEMBER 1*
KYLE — A Department of Public Safety trooper clung to life in an Austin
hospital late Thursday after he was shot in the head after stopping a
driver for allegedly not wearing a seat belt, DPS officials said.
Trooper Randall Vetter, 28, was rushed to Austin's Brackenridge Hospital
after the morning shooting on an access road of Interstate 35 just south of
here. The trooper, married with an 8-month-old child, recently was
transferred to the San Marcos station from New Braunfels.
A 72-year-old Kyle man, toting an assault-style weapon, was arrested at the
scene within minutes.
Melvin Edison Hale was charged with attempted capital murder of a peace
officer and late Thursday was being held in Hays County Jail in lieu of
posting a $1 million bond.
Vetter pulled Hale over just before 10:30 a.m. Thursday on the access road
that runs west of I-35. Hale was ticketed at the same spot on Oct. 14,
1999, also for not wearing a seat belt, and had not paid the ticket.
DPS spokesman Mike Cox said Vetter was in his car writing the ticket. The
gunman, toting an assault-style rifle, walked up to the trooper's car and
fired a single shot through the windshield, striking Vetter in the head.
Vetter fell sideways out of his car onto the road.
Cox said investigators believed Hale used the radio in Vetter's patrol car
to call police and tell them of the shooting.
Police converged on the scene within two minutes.
Bullock said Hale is not a member of any militant group. He said Hale
failed to file some paperwork with the county and lost the agricultural
exemption on the ranch, causing a staggering increase in this year's tax bill.
"He wanted to live a free life alone with his mother," Bullock said,
"without fear of being arrested for not wearing a seat belt or losing his
land over taxes.
"He was upset about that last ticket and he never did pay it. He felt it
was an infringement on his freedom to be told he had to wear a seatbelt.
"I know he believes God will see him through this and God is on his side,
but I am afraid he will spend the rest of his life in jail," he said.
At the scene of the shooting, more than 50 officers from area law
enforcement agencies gathered throughout the afternoon.
Cox said it was the first shooting of a DPS officer since an ambush in
Atascosa County last October. Killed then in one of the bloodiest rampages
against Texas law enforcement officers were Trooper Terry Miller, 37, and
Atascosa County sheriff's Deputies Thomas Monse, 31, and Mark Stephenson, 32.
"It is unusual for anybody that age to be involved in any kind of crime,"
Cox said. "I cannot recall a critical shooting over a seat belt violation."
Although Cox termed Hale's rifle an "assault-style" weapon and "a gun
designed for killing," he said there was no indication it was an illegal gun.
He said Vetter was out of surgery, but still in critical condition late
Thursday.
"The doctors say the next 48 hours are critical for him," he said.
This DPS Trooper died late Monday night 8/8/2000, and funeral arrangements are pending.
Just a moment for a fellow professional.
REMEMBER 1*