On the recordJanuary 31, 2011
I rise today to honor the heroic life of Suzanne Waughtel-Hopper, a deputy sheriff of Clark County, OH, and a beloved mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend who was killed in the line of duty on the morning of January 1, 2011. On that fateful day, Deputy Hopper, who went 6 years without ever missing a work day, volunteered to work overtime where she was scheduled to start her shift at 3 a.m. But by 2:34 a.m. she had already started her patrol, and by 2:58 a.m. she had already made an arrest by taking a drunk driver off the street. Throughout the morning, she fielded calls of theft and criminal activity, and by 11:30 a.m. she answered her last call, a report of a dispute at a local campground. While taking forensic evidence photographs, she was shot and killed and German Township officer Jeremy Blum was injured. As Deputy Hopper did each day of her career, she answered her call to duty, the call to uphold the sacred oath she took to protect her community.
