The steady stream of stories about the tragic shooting of police officers across the country has reminded me of an incident that occurred several years ago on U.S. Hwy. 67, east of Rankin.
On Sunday, Nov. 21, 1976, Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper Sammy Long was shot and killed by a motorist he had stopped. From all accounts, it appeared to be a routine traffic stop. But we’ve all learned lately that there is no such thing as a routine traffic stop for any officer, be it a DPS trooper, a sheriff’s deputy or a city patrolman.
Trooper Long lived in McCamey and he had the respect of the entire community, according to a story in the Odessa American.
“Sammy is the only trooper I knew who could write you a ticket and make you like it,” former Howard County Judge Ben Lockhart once said.
On the evening he died, he had stopped a vehicle on the highway between Rankin and Big Lake. Turned out the driver was a soldier from California who had left his unit and was absent without leave (AWOL). As Long approached, the driver exited his vehicle and fired a shot that knocked Long down. The man then grabbed Long’s service revolver and emptied the gun into the downed trooper.
And that was one of the last things the AWOL soldier did.
About 150 yards or so down the road, a deer hunter was stopped at a roadside park. Hearing the shots and seeing what had happened, the hunter grabbed his rifle and shot the soldier dead.
The hunter, whose identity was never revealed as far as I know, later received a commendation from the Department of Public Safety.
Long was a DPS trooper for 18 years before his death. His wife was a school teacher in McCamey.
In 1998, a granite marker was placed at the spot where Long died. It is about five miles east of Rankin.
In 2013, former DPS Trooper David Hancock wrote about his experience on the day Long was killed.
“I was a DPS trooper in Midland and heard Sammy Long go ‘10-33’ in pursuit of a black pickup eastbound on U.S. 67 towards Rankin and Big Lake. Vick Atwood (DPS trooper based in Big Lake) told Sammy he was on his way and to keep him coming. The radio equipment was not great back then, but we knew listening to the dispatcher what was happening. Several minutes later, it was relayed to all of us that Sammy had been killed and the maggot who did it was dead,” Hancock wrote.
Wade Warren is the assistant publisher of the Snyder Daily News. Comments about his column can be emailed to editor1@snyderdailynews.com.