[kellyhound]

Attachment 27355

Trooper Randall Wade Vetter
Texas Department of Public Safety -
Texas Highway Patrol
Texas
End of Watch: Monday, August 7, 2000

Biographical Info
Age: 28
Tour of Duty: 6 years
Badge Number: 8243


Incident Details
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: Thursday, August 3, 2000
Weapon Used: Rifle
Suspect Info: Convicted of murder

Trooper Vetter died from a gunshot wound he received 4 days earlier while conducting a traffic stop.

Trooper Vetter had stopped 72-year-old driver Melvin Edison Hale of Kyle for not wearing a seatbelt.
While he was sitting in his patrol car, the suspect exited his vehicle and opened fire with a rifle.

The trooper was struck in the head. Trooper Vetter was able to return fire but did not hit the suspect.

The suspect then used the patrol car's radio to say he shot the officer and then attempted to flee the scene.

An off duty officer who was passing by, witnessed the shooting and alerted other officers.

The suspect was then taken into custody after a brief standoff on the roadway.

The suspect was known to local officers for claiming he would shoot any officer who tried to write him a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt. The suspect was convicted of murder.

Trooper Vetter had been with the Texas Department of Public Safety for six years, and is survived by his wife and eight-month-old son.

San Marcos — When then-District Attorney Mike Wenk decided not to seek the death penalty against a 72-year-old man who fatally shot a Highway Patrol Trooper eight years ago, the general consensus was that Melvin Hale would die in prison anyway.

Over the weekend, he did.

Texas Department of Public Safety authorities confirmed on Wednesday that Hale was pronounced dead at 11:23 a.m. Oct. 25 2008 at the Carole Young Medical Facility in Texas City.

Michelle Lyons, public information director for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said the death was of apparent natural causes. She said Hale had been transferred from the Polunsky Unit in Livingston to the medical facility because of “several ailments.” He was 81.

Hale was convicted in the death of 28-year-old DPS Trooper Randall Vetter, who had pulled Hale over on the IH-35 West Access Road near Yarrington Road on Aug. 5, 2000, because he was not wearing a seat belt.

[chris]

Was that the suspect calling for help on the officers radio? This is crazy..

[chris]

You know, this is total shit, this man shot a police officer, he is pointing a weapon at other officers, .. For Christ sake would someone shoot this asshole.. WTF!

[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by chris ↗

You know, this is total shit, this man shot a police officer, he is pointing a weapon at other officers, .. For Christ sake would someone shoot this asshole.. WTF!

Lot of mistakes made by the other back-up cops.
They knew a cop was down and a squad car stopped near the killer and later they tried to tell him to lay down his weapon.
Meanwhile vetter was in his car trying to keep alive.

[Hunted]

Fuck!........... they should have dropped him right there when he walked up to the white crusier.

[chris]

Yep, no reason for this. They should have shot that fucker, then tended to the wounded officer. This video should be used in training.

[steverick2]

Hey kellyhound, I need a huge favor........ Since this post is old, but still accessible could you please edit your post and take the link for the video off? The Vetter Family wants to avoid Randy's son, who is 9 yrs old from doing a search on the internet on his father and finding this. This video has caused enough pain for this family. Let's give Robert a choice when he is older to view this horrible video on his own not by accident, and cause him more sorrow. Thank you in advance for understanding.

Rick

[Msnr. Sonny Sinner]

Originally Posted by steverick2 ↗

Hey kellyhound, I need a huge favor........ Since this post is old, but still accessible could you please edit your post and take the link for the video off? The Vetter Family wants to avoid Randy's son, who is 9 yrs old from doing a search on the internet on his father and finding this. This video has caused enough pain for this family. Let's give Robert a choice when he is older to view this horrible video on his own not by accident, and cause him more sorrow. Thank you in advance for understanding.

Rick

Dude, you came to the WRONG place to ask that kind of favor? Hey i feel for the family and all, but NOT HAPPENING! Guess you havent been following the nicole cat-a-saurus story.

When he starts using internet unsupervised, let him know about it and he can watch it or avoid it.

[its me, derr]

you need to be 18 to view this site, if the kids only 9 whats the problem? Its his decesion to make when he old enough.

[WindBag]

that first unit should have just ran that guy down.. Murdered him just because he didn't want to where his seat belt.