Remembered: A Candlelight Vigil Will Be Broadcast Thursday Afternoon
The name of a local Washington State Patrol trooper who was killed by a fleeing driver in March 2020 in Chehalis has been added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
Trooper Justin Schaffer’s name was added Tuesday along with that of Trooper S. Renee Padgett and hundreds of additional names of officers from across the country, according to the Washington State Patrol Memorial Foundation.
A candlelight vigil will be broadcasted from Washington, D.C., beginning at 3 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday.
Last Friday, the Medal of Honor ceremony was held at the Law Enforcement Memorial in Olympia. The medals of honor were given by the Attorney General’s Office and presented by Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Gov. Jay Inslee. The honor is reserved for police officers who have been killed in the line of duty, or who have distinguished themselves by exceptional meritorious conduct.
Friday’s ceremony honored six fallen officers and eight injured officers for their heroic actions in 2019 and 2020, including Schaffer. Trooper Schaffer’s wife, parents and sister-in-law received the award in his honor.
Schaffer, 28, was born on Jan. 30, 1992, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. He graduated from Adna High School and later received a degree in criminal justice from Centralia College.
Schaffer began working for the Washington State Patrol on Nov. 12, 2013 and had served the agency for seven years at the time of his death.
He completed K9 training in November 2018 and was a certified K9 handler to his partner, Frankie, who retired from active service after Schaffer’s death and currently lives with Schaffer’s family.
The pair were transferred to Chehalis on Dec. 13, 2018.
Schaffer was the 30th member of the Washington State Patrol to die in the line of duty, and the first to die in the line of duty in Lewis County.
He is survived by his wife Sandra, brother Brandon and his parents, Glenn and Sheila.
William Thompson, the Olympia man accused of leading multiple law enforcement agencies on a chase down Interstate 5 and ultimately killing Schaffer, was found competent to stand trial last November.
The candlelight vigil can be viewed online at https://bit.ly/3axsSdR.
