ISP Trooper Hopkins R.I.P.

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - An Illinois State Police trooper died from wounds suffered early Friday while executing a search warrant in East St. Louis.

Trooper Nicholas Hopkins, 33, of Waterloo, a 10-year veteran of the force, was wounded during an exchange of gunfire while serving the warrant at an East St. Louis home, said State Police Acting Director Brendan Kelly. He later died at a hospital.

“It is with profound heartache and unfathomable sadness that we inform you of the death of Trooper
Nicholas Hopkins,” Kelly said in a statement. “Trooper Hopkins laid down his life while protecting the citizens of this state.”

After the shooting, police surrounded the home and arrested three people. Police remained on the scene throughout the day, uncertain if another suspect was barricaded in the house, according to authorities. The three people arrested were not identified.

Police didn't say if anyone else was shot, nor have they revealed the issues addressed in the search warrant.

Waterloo Mayor Tom Smith says Hopkins was married and the father of four-year-old twins and an infant daughter.

"It is nearly impossible to express the depth of my sadness and my condolences to the entire Hopkins' family and his friends and the Illinois State Police family," Kelly said. "I give my thanks to troopers who performed CPR for an extended period on their fellow trooper to sustain their brother's life so that his family could see him one last time."

In a statement following the shooting, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker noted state troopers display unbelievable courage and "put their lives on the line for us every single day."

“Today the entire state mourns the loss of ISP South SWAT Trooper Nicholas Hopkins, a young man who dedicated 10 of his 33 years on this earth to protecting the people of Illinois,” Pritzker said. “It is the most courageous among us who choose a life of risk so their communities can go about their lives in peace.”

U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Steve Weinhoeft says the area where the shooting of Hopkins occurred is "particularly dangerous."

"He (Hopkins) was trying to make that community safer for every man, woman and child," Weinhoeft said.

The shooting Friday, was the latest of law enforcement officers while attempting to serve a warrant, and the second of an Illinois State trooper this month.

Illinois State Police has also suffered an unusual number of fatalities this year with the deaths of three troopers.

Troopers Christopher Lambert, in January, and Brooke Jones-Story, in March, were struck by vehicles. Trooper Gerald Ellis died in an automobile crash in March.