Killed by a career criminal.
Via WISTV:
A Virginia State Police special agent fatally shot by a convicted felon in a Richmond public housing complex was remembered Sunday as a man dedicated to improving the lives of children.
Michael T. Walter, 45, died early Saturday, hours after being shot while patrolling in the Mosby Court complex, which has had six homicides and 19 non-fatal shootings this year alone.
“I just shook my head and said ‘not again’,” said Darlene Crutchfield, who saw Walter’s body lying on the ground near where her 34-year-old son was killed in 2015.
The death of the former Marine and father of three also shocked the central Virginia community of Powhatan, where Walter was well known for the youth wrestling organization he founded.
Steven Stone, who coached with Walter, described him as an “irreplaceable” father figure and a believer in second chances. He wanted to make the sport available to kids of all economic backgrounds, Stone said, recalling how excited Walter was when he secured a grant that enabled lower- income kids to wrestle.
“We never thought that Mike of all people, that this would happen to him,” Stone said Sunday. “You would think he was Superman.”
The Philadelphia native had been promoted to special agent in 2010 and was working in drug enforcement in the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Richmond field office. He is survived by a wife and two sons- ages 14 and 9- and a 6-year-old daughter, said State Police Superintendent Col. Steven Flaherty.
Walter was shot Friday night while patrolling with a City of Richmond police officer. They spotted a car pull up to a curb and pulled in behind it. The Richmond officer went to speak to the driver, while Walter approached the passenger side. A single shot rang out, and Travis Ball took off running, prompting an overnight manhunt by eight local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
The Richmond officer was not injured, police said. The car’s driver was detained. A handgun was recovered at the scene.
Ball, who is black, was arrested Saturday in Virginia’s Northern Neck region about an hour after the white officer’s death.
The 27-year-old is being held without bond on charges that include malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Additional charges are pending. His lengthy record includes convictions for assault and battery, cruelty to animals, unauthorized use of a vehicle and violating his probation, court records show.