Virginia Trooper Fatally Shot at Greyhound Station Grew Up In Michigan

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RICHMOND, VA – A Virginia state trooper who was fatally shot Thursday at a Greyhound bus terminal in Richmond was a Michigan native.

Trooper Chad P. Dermyer, 37, grew up in Jackson, according to media reports, including the Jackson Citizen Patriot.

A former Marine who had been stationed in Newport News, VA, Dermyer was a husband and the father of two children.

The Jackson newspaper said Dermyer, who graduated from Columbia Central High School, worked for the Jackson Police Department for about three years. The job was eliminated in budget cuts, and he worked for other police agencies in Michigan before moving Virginia, where his wife grew up.

Dermyer regularly kept in touch with his friends and family in Michigan, and last visited about a year ago. His friends described him to the Jackson newspaper as “a good guy,” a “phenomenal” soccer player and all-around athlete, and a first-rate law enforcement officer.

Dr. Channing Smith, who regularly played soccer with Dermyer in Jackson, said the fallen trooper was “just down to Earth, friendly, kind of what you would want a police officer to be.”

Two civilians were also shot by the gunman, identified as James Brown III of Aurora, IL, before he was shot dead by two other troopers at the busy bus station.

Dermyer was talking with the gunman when he suddenly pulled out a gun and shot him multiple times. Both the trooper and the gunman died at VCU Medical Center. The injuries to the women were not believed to be life-threatening.

Flaherty said investigators were trying to determine a motive.

“There’s not much we’ve ruled out," he said, "but certainly there’s no indication of terrorism.”

Dermyer’s friends in Michigan are having difficulty understanding the tragedy.

"It's senseless,” Matt Miller, a childhood friend, told the Jackson Citizen Patriot. “How do you describe it?"

"It is something you really can't comprehend or understand."

» Read the latest about the shooting on Across America Patch.