PONTIAC, MI (WXYZ/CNN) – Nearly 150 people attended a vigil on Thanksgiving night for a Michigan deputy who was killed in the line of duty when, the sheriff’s office says, a suspect ran into him deliberately.
Officials say 50-year-old Deputy Eric Overall was struck just after midnight Thursday while assisting with a chase by deploying stop sticks.
Deputies believe the 22-year-old suspect whom they were pursuing deliberately swerved his car and hit Overall, who was on the side of the road.
Overall was pronounced dead at the hospital. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide and said he died of blunt force trauma.
Community members and law enforcement officers took time out of their Thanksgivings to honor the fallen deputy and comfort his wife, whom he had recently married, with a candlelight vigil at the Michigan Fallen Heroes Memorial.
“She kissed him… and he went off to work like any other day. It wasn’t any other day,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
Overall’s wife says the turnout was amazing.
The sheriff’s office says the suspect’s vehicle rolled over, and the man was taken into custody at the scene.
Deputies had pursued the suspect after he allegedly made threats at a local sheriff’s office. He has four prior convictions for marijuana possession and a conviction for resisting and obstructing police, the sheriff’s office says.
Overall was a 22-year veteran of the department and is survived by an adult son, according to the sheriff’s office.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to assist Overall’s family during this time.
Copyright 2017 WXYZ, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office via CNN. All rights reserved.
