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| Trooper Randall Vetter |
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| Texas state trooper Randall Vetter struggled for five days against a gunshot wound that could have ended his life immediately. He died at 10:24 p.m. Monday at Brackenridge Hospital, authorities said. The 28-year-old Department of Public Safety trooper, who co-workers said showed a genuine caring for the public, was shot in the head Thursday after a traffic stop in Hays County. "We have lost a true warrior, a dedicated trooper, a devoted husband and father and a dear friend," DPS spokesman Tony Perez said in a short news briefing at Brackenridge. About 50 fellow troopers and relatives were at the hospital Monday night, Perez said. "You always ask yourself why these things happen, but there's never a good answer," he said. Vetter, who was married and had an 8-month-old son, spent more than four hours in surgery the day of the shooting. He remained in critical condition until he died. Officials declined Monday night to release details about his injury, his surgery or the specific cause of death. While he was in the hospital, however, Vetter's co-workers had plenty to say about the 6-foot-7-inch trooper. They called him dedicated, a family man, selfless, an intelligent, capable person whose tenacity earned his colleagues' respect. Vetter had spent the past three years working in the New Braunfels DPS station before transferring to San Marcos on July 1. Melvin Hale, the 72-year-old retired rancher from Hays County who was arrested moments after the shooting, remained in the Hays County Jail Monday night on $1 million bail. He has been charged with attempted murder of a police officer. Authorities did not say when a decision would be made on whether to upgrade the charge to capital murder. Authorities said Hale shot Vetter with an assault-style rifle after the trooper stopped him for not wearing a seat belt at about 10:25 a.m. Thursday along an Interstate 35 service road near San Marcos. Vetter fired two shots from his handgun before he was wounded, authorities said. As he was led into the Hays County Jail after the shooting, Hale admitted shooting Vetter. "I did it," he told a group of reporters. "I'm a law-abiding citizen. I like to drive down the road without being arrested." In February, another trooper who had an encounter with Hale wrote a memo to all Hays County law officers warning that Hale strongly opposed the state seat belt law and should be considered dangerous. DPS officials said they did not know whether Vetter, on duty in San Marcos only a month, had seen that memo. Vetter was the second Austin-area law officer killed on duty this year while making a traffic stop. Austin Park Police officer William Jones was shot at close range May 28 just outside Zilker Park. The man who shot him, Allen David Padron, 28, killed himself later that day at the end of a police car chase outside Houston. Vetter was the 75th state trooper killed in the line of duty, authorities said. He is survived by his father, Kermit Vetter, a lieutenant for the Comal County sheriff's department, and wife Cynthia and son Robert of New Braunfels. |
 brjuan@crcom.net |
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