Trooper David Irvine Rucker, 37, was shot and killed on September 29, 1981, while making a traffic stop on Highway 100, six miles east of Los Fresnos, Texas. A Texas Highway Patrol veteran of 14 years, he was fatally shot by the driver of the vehicle and left in the traffic lane holding the identification of the suspect wanted in both killings.

Shortly afterward the same suspect was stopped by Patrolman Enrique Carrisalez of the Los Fresnos Police Department, who was unaware the man had just killed Trooper Rucker. Patrolman Carrisalez was also shot and mortally wounded as he exited his patrol car. The suspect was later arrested and ultimately executed in 1993. A search of the suspect’s home yielded the stolen duty weapon of Hidalgo County Constable Ricky Lewis, who had been murdered in 1979; that murder remains officially unsolved and the suspect was never charged in it.

Trooper Rucker was survived by his wife and three children and is remembered for his service. If anyone remembers Trooper Rucker, Patrolman Carrisalez, or has information about the 1979 murder of Constable Lewis, please share what you know.