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| Trooper
David Shawn Blanton, Jr. slain in line
of duty |
David
Shawn Blanton,
Jr. |
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North Carolina Highway Patrol
Trooper David Shawn Blanton,
Jr., 24, who died Tuesday,
June 17, in the line of duty,
received in-service law enforcement
training at Southwestern Community
College.
Blanton was apparently shot
during a traffic stop on Interstate
40 in Haywood County near
the Canton Exit 31 around10:30
p.m. Tuesday. According to
authorities, Blanton stopped
a vehicle for a traffic violation
and when he attempted to take
the driver into custody, the
driver resisted, then apparently
shot him. The driver, 37-year-old
Edwardo Wong II of Florida,
was charged with first-degree
murder following a hearing
Wednesday before Judge Monica
Leslie in Waynesville District
Court.
Blanton, who was from Cherokee,
was the first enrolled member
of the Eastern Band to become
a state trooper, according
to Principal Chief Michell
Hicks.
Blanton and his wife, Michaela,
just had a son, Brendan Tyler,
born seven weeks premature,
who is still in the neonatal
intensive care unit at Mission
Hospitals.
The funeral service will be
at 11 a.m. Saturday, June
21, at Stuart Auditorium on
the Lake Junaluska Assembly.
The family will receive friends
from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, June
20, at Wells Funeral Home
of Canton. An online memorial
register is available at Obituaries
at www.wellsfuneralhome.com.
Contributions to the Trooper
David Blanton Memorial Fund
can be made at any of Mountain
Credit Union branches. Contributions
to the Michaela Nicole Blanton
FBO Brendan Tye Blanton fund
can be made at any North Carolina
State Employees Credit Union
branch.
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Last
updated
6/19/08
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