WALKER, Mich. -- Saturday marked seven years to the day that Walker Police Officer Trevor Slot was struck by a car driven by fleeing bank robbers in Ottawa County. But it seemed like yesterday for some of those who gathered at a memorial service in City Central Park, in his memory.
A longtime friend of Officer Slot's, Daran Klinker, remarked to FOX 17 at the event, "Seven years? That's crazy; it seems like yesterday. But I still have good memories of him."
The memorial was held at the Walker Police & Fire Memorial, just west of the city's police department. It was also held at the same hour (11 a.m.) that Slot was struck and killed October 13, 2011 on the I-96 off-ramp at 8th Avenue. He was starting to lay down stop sticks, but was hit by the bank bandits' fleeing getaway car. Shortly thereafter at that location, the men who had held up a bank in Ravenna died in a shootout with police.
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Officer Slot was just 41 years old that fateful day, leaving behind a wife and children. Retired Walker Police Sergeant Rob Shoemaker remembers it all too well.
"Every time when this day rolls around you get a little bit emotional. And then, with today being the anniversary and having the memory this day. And it was actually just after 11 o'clock when the incident went down. I realize that the incident happened at 11 o'clock, and seven years ago today we were about a couple miles north of here on the highway when it happened...".
Shoemaker reflected fondly on his time working with Slot. "Working with Trevor was always exciting. He had a great sense of humor, cared about people. He was just a great guy."
Daran Klinker, a longtime friend of Officer Slot, also recalled his sense of humor: "Funny. Really smart...always pushing buttons. Just hilarious. Once you got him belly-laughing, it was really good."
But Klinker also remembered the day he received the phone call that his good friend was dead. "I didn't believe it. I was like, 'You've got the wrong guy...".
The annual memorial ceremony was bittersweet. "I hate those bagpipes," said Klinker. "They get me every time. The stories I love; I could heard those all the time, because it brings me back to the conversations that he and I used to have all the time."
"It's sad. Seeing his girls, and having him not being here."
Said Sergeant Shoemaker, "Trevor was fair. He loved what he did. You could depend on him. He always tried to do the right thing."
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FOX 17's Candese Charles contributed to this report.
