Florida officers commemorate slain highway patrol trooper

Team South Florida, a group dedicated to remembering officers killed in the line of duty, honored fallen Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Joseph Bullock on Thursday, February 6, by running a memorial mile in Winter Springs, Florida.

The memorial run was coordinated with Running 4 Heroes, a Florida nonprofit started by 11-year-old runner Zechariah Cartledge, who runs a mile for every American first responder killed in the line of duty.

Trooper Bullock was responding to a disabled vehicle on Wednesday when he was shot and killed by the driver, who was upset over having to pay for towing service, the Herald-Tribune reported.

The gunman who killed Bullock was then shot and killed by an off-duty Riviera Beach Police Officer, who was in passing traffic at the time, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office said.

Team South Florida went on the Thursday night run with Cartledge at Layer Elementary School in Winter Springs.

In this video, officers fold a “thin blue line” US flag, which Cartledge had carried as he ran. Cartledge then hands the flag to Bullock’s longtime partner, who the narrator says will deliver it to the Bullock family.

Team South Florida consists of active and retired law enforcement officers, a representative for the organization, Joyce Rogeux, said in an email to Storyful. Members attend every funeral of fallen Florida officers, send birthday gifts to the children affected, host holiday shopping events for families, and donate laptops, Rogeux said.