Sunday, June 22, 2008

Slain State Trooper Was Buried Saturday


Funeral services for slain NC State Trooper David Shawn Blanton were Saturday, at the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center in Lake Junaluska. He was buried at Thomas Memorial Cemetery in Cherokee.

Blanton was shot to death Tuesday night after a trafffic stop near Canton on I-40. Eduardo Wong, age 37 of Florida...was chased down and apprehended a short time later and is in the Haywood County jail, charged with murder, and is being held without bond. In his first court appearance, Wong was informed by Haywood County District Court Judge Monica Leslie that he could be facing the death penalty by lethal injection.

Trooper Blanton reportedly struggled with the suspect before being shot. As he attempted to flee from officers, Wong is said to have fired gunshots at Haywood County deputies and had three handguns in his possession, including Trooper Blanton's, when apprehended.

Blanton had stopped the truck Wong was driving east on I-40 for a registration violation. Wong was reportedly pulling a trailer with a gray Nissan Altima on it headed into North Carolina from Tennessee.

Wong had previously been convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers, of felony possession of narcotics, and felony possession of weapons.

Trooper Blanton is survived by his wife and infant son. After being shot in the shoulder and wrist, Blanton died in Mission Hospitals in Asheville. His infant son had recently been born pre-maturely and his wife was reportedly a patient in that hospital when Trooper Blanton was taken there after the shooting.

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