Md. State Police Honor Fallen Troopers At Annual Ceremony

PIKESVILLE, Md. (WJZ)-- Remembering sacrifice. Loved ones gathered at Maryland State Police headquarters for the 18th Annual Fallen Heroes ceremony.

Weijia Jiang has their story.

"Officer William Lochner, April 20, 1923."

With each name read, a rose was laid.

"We remind their families we will never forget," Col. Marcus Brown, superintendent of the Maryland State Police, said.

With each rose, a family left behind remembered their loved ones' devotion to service at an annual ceremony for fallen heroes.

"They've given their all, and it's a rough month," Princella Hunter said.

It's been difficult for Princella Hunter, because her son's name is the latest unveiled on this memorial at Maryland State Police headquarters. Trooper First Class Shaft Sidney Hunter is the forty-third trooper killed in the line of duty since 1921.

"My son was one who would have given his life readily if it meant he was going to protect someone else, so I think it brought reality closer to us-- the fact that we don't have him here," Princella Hunter said.

Hunter was 39 and an 11-year veteran, killed during a high-speed chase last year. He leaves behind six children.

"He loved life, he lived it. I'm not mad or anything because that's the way he wanted it," Sherman Hunter, TFC Shaft Sidney Hunter's father, said.

That very understanding brings these strangers together-- knowing their loved ones gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Troopers plan to lay Maryland state flags on the gravestones of the fallen next week, which is National Police Week.