Officer Robert Galen Etter, Jr.

Robert Galen Etter, Jr.

Officer Robert Etter and Officer Stephanie Markins were killed when the driver of a full-size pickup truck deliberately struck their patrol car while it was stopped at a stop sign in the 3800 block of West Mason Street (Highway 54) at 4:22 p.m.

As the suspect approached the patrol car, he accelerated to approximately 70 mph and struck the patrol car on the driver's side without ever applying his brakes. Officer Etter, sitting in the passenger's seat, was ejected from the patrol car, and Officer Markins was pinned inside. Both officers died at the scene. The suspect, who was out looking to kill a police officer, was arrested.

The 27-year-old suspect was found guilty of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in 2003 and sentenced to 50 years in prison with no eligibility for parole.

Officer Etter was a United States Army Vietnam War veteran who had served with the DePere Police Department for 30 years and with the Pulaski Police Department for two years before joining the 5-person Hobart/Lawrence Police Department in March 2001 when it was created. He is survived by his wife, children, and grandchildren.