Many gathered May 10 outside Indian River County Courthouse to honor line-of-duty deaths

VERO BEACH − The law enforcement community in Indian River County, including the Sheriff's Office, municipal police departments and state agencies, as well as some elected leaders and the public, gathered Monday outside the Indian River County Courthouse for the start of National Police Week.

They honored those in the state who died in the line of duty last year. Locally, they honored Sheriff's Cpl. Richard "Raz" Raczkoski, the only deputy to be killed on duty. The 29-year-old deputy was shot by a suspect Sept. 23, 1986.

A stretch of State Road 60 from Interstate 95 to 43rd Avenue is named for him. Along that stretch there was a ZIppy Mart, where Raczkoski responded to a 911 hang up in the dark early morning. There was a confrontation between him and a suspect, William Reaves. Reaves shot him multiple times, and he died on his way to the hospital, according to Press Journal archives. Reaves has been on death row since 1992.

On May 10, 2024, Sheriff Eric Flowers sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis asking him to sign Reaves' death warrant.

Retired Judge Dan Vaughn was the keynote speaker of the Monday event. He went to high school with Raczkoski, and spoke about their days playing basketball.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Indian River County honors line-of-duty deaths-National-Police-Week