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Master Trooper

Kevin Keith Conner

North Carolina Highway Patrol — Raleigh, NC

Felonious

End of Watch October 17, 2018

Age 38

Tour of Duty 11 yrs

The Vigil Panel 169 ›

Gender Male

Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 68

Incident

Master Trooper Kevin Conner was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop of a speeding vehicle on U.S. 701, near Sellers Town Road, in Columbus County at 12:15 am.

The subject opened fire on Trooper Conner as he was approaching the stopped vehicle, fatally wounding him. The man fled but was located near Fair Bluff. He lead officers on a pursuit until his vehicle became disabled on railroad tracks in the town. He then fled on foot but was located and taken into custody at 4:00 am.

A good samaritan happened upon Trooper Conner less than five minutes after he was shot and called 911. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The 20-year-old suspect, who was driving a stolen truck, served three months in prison and is now on probation for firing a gun into an occupied car in Chadbourn in 2015. He is being held in the Columbus County Jail with no bond and has been charged with first-degree murder. On October 23rd, 2018, a second 18-year-old suspect was arrested in Loris, South Carolina in connection with Trooper Conner's murder and returned to North Carolina where he was charged with first-degree murder. Evidence shows he was in the truck with the killer. He served two months in a North Carolina prison earlier in the year for possession of a firearm by a felon and identity theft.

Trooper Conner had served with the North Carolina Highway Patrol for 11 years and had previously served with the North Carolina Marine Patrol. He is survived by his wife and two children. In 2011 he saved a driver's life when he extinguished a fire in the man's car after being involved in an accident.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife and two children.

In Our Keeping

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Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Master Trooper Conner gave the North Carolina Highway Patrol 11 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of North Carolina. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Master Trooper Conner.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department North Carolina Highway Patrol

Type Highway Patrol

Location Raleigh, NC

Platform Identity nchp.nc.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 17, 2018

Tour of Duty 11 yrs

Age 38

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Cause Detail Gunfire

Weapon Handgun

The Sacrifice · Felonious

Kevin is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

33,917 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 2018, 66 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 109th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States

Who

Kevin was 38. Of the 14,220 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. Kevin had served 11 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death

Where he stood among them

Age by years of service

III

When

October holds 7.9% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Wednesdays: 12.9%.

By month

By day of the week

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was handgun, in 23.4% of these deaths.

Every cause

Weapons recorded