Before other units could join, Snyder did a quick U-turn, exited his vehicle and began shooting at Trooper Casper in his patrol auto, mortally wounding him. The report states that Snyder is responsible for a bank robbery and a homicide that occurred in Wausaukee, hours before the shootout.
The gunbattle lasted only about 17 seconds.
Trevor Casper, 21, was on his first solo patrol March 24 when he was ambushed by suspect Steven Timothy Snyder, Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said.
Toney said Casper kept his distance and calmly radioed in reports of his position.
“We are extremely proud of the dedication, compassion and reliability that Trevor brought with him to the Wisconsin State Patrol”. Newaygo County Sheriff’s Detectives and FBI Agents immediately began a thorough background and criminal history check and attempted to gain supporting evidence of the citizen’s information, including getting Snyder’s DNA to compare to the Michigan bank robberies where suspect DNA had been left behind. The magazine failed and Snyder tried to run, but Casper fired 12 shots, including one round that hit Snyder in the back and passed through his heart.
Michigan authorities said this week that Snyder was responsible for nine bank robberies in three states.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice initially said Snyder, 38, robbed a bank in Wausaukee on March 24.
“The suspect’s wife stated that if the police investigated her husband she anticipated he would disappear and go rogue or, if police officers showed up, he would come out shooting”, the report said.
Christ’s body was found at the location where Snyder switched vehicles, abandoning the stolen van and driving away in his rental auto.
Authorities are looking for a man charged in the death of his girlfriend’s 1-year-old child and injuries to the boy’s twin in Fond du Lac.
The FBI’s Green Bay field office had indicated to one sergeant that an Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Michigan “was not cooperating” as would be expected with tracking Snyder’s cellphone, Toney said.
Toney says Snyder had multiple weapons and more than 100 unfired rounds when he died.
“Trooper Casper was struck by a bullet in his back, that penetrated his ballistic vest, continued through a lung and was located in the front portion of his ballistic vest”, Toney said.
A courtesy photo of Trooper Trevor Casper obtained by WBAY. Toney adds that Casper shot Snyder as he was running toward an apartment building and reloading his gun. “And always put others before himself”. “Trevor told his dad … he didn’t have any concerns for his first day on his own as a state trooper”, the statement said. “But we are comforted because we know Trevor will continue to protect and serve at the highest level as he looks upon us from above”.
