This
page is dedicated to the officers who made the ultimate sacrifice while
serving to protect the citizens of Fort Pierce.
Officer Willie B. Ellis was the first Fort Pierce police officer killed in the line of duty. He and Officer Clifford Minus were responding to a neighborhood disturbance on July 17, 1966. Both officers were shot. Officer Ellis was mortally wounded and Officer Minus survived his injuries. Officer Ellis was promoted posthumously to the rank of sergeant. The suspect died in 2003 while serving a life sentence. On Saturday, November 4, 2000, the Avenue D Substation was dedicated to the memory of Sergeant Willie B. Ellis.
Officer Willie B. Ellis
July 1966
Lieutenant Grover Cooper and Detective Jimmy Wouters were the second and third officers killed in the line of duty. On January 12, 1987, several officers from the Fort Pierce Police Special Investigations unit were working on a drug investigation when shots rang out. Both Lt. Cooper and Detective Wouters were shot. They died several hours apart. Officer Robert Spring was wounded in the shooting. Spring survived and later retired from the department. Lt. Cooper and Detective Wouters were promoted posthumously to captain and sergeant, respectively.
Lieutenant Grover Cooper January 1987
Officer Jimmy Wouters January 1987
Officer Danny Parrish on January 18, 1991, the department was faced, once again, with the tragic loss of one of its officers. Officer Parrish was shot thirteen shots after stopping an 18-year-old driver for going the wrong way on a one-way street. Grabbing the officer’s gun, the perpetrator fired 13 shots into Officer Parrish. The vest stopped four of the bullets, but Officer Parrish was gravely wounded and died. The suspect is on death row.
Officer Danny Parrish January 1991
Note: It is the tradition
of the Fort Pierce Police Department to promote officers killed in the
line of duty posthumously to the next rank.
