Trooper Killed After Car Stop; 2 Arrested

A state trooper was fatally shot on New Year’s Eve on Interstate 95 after he pulled a car over for speeding. Two people were later arrested and charged with murder. As Sgt. Frankie L. Lingard, 40, approached the driver’s side, a man shot him and sped away, a police spokeswoman said. When another officer pulled a Ford Mustang over a short while later, a woman, Gloryvee Perez Blackwell, jumped out with her two children and the driver took off. Police then chased the car through parts of three counties before it crashed. The driver, Justin Matecki, was hospitalized in a jail ward in Santee with a head injury. The motive for the shooting was under investigation. Blackwell’s children, 8 and 11, were turned over to the state.