"This is the community reaching out:" Thousands fill small town of Kiel to remember Trooper Casper

KIEL (WITI) -- Thousands filled the small town of Kiel, Wisconsin on Sunday, March 29th to say goodbye to Wisconsin State Patrol Trooper Trevor Casper. The 21-year-old is the youngest law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty in Wisconsin history. He lost his life last Tuesday, March 24th during a shootout with a bank robbery suspect in Fond du Lac.

Funeral services were held on Sunday evening at Kiel High School after Casper's family members greeted loved ones at the high school starting at noon.

There are tributes to Trevor Casper throughout Kiel -- billboards offering condolences, flags at half-staff, small blue flags lining the roads and house lights glowing blue. Even the street lights have been replaced with blue bulbs.

Trevor Casper graduated from Kiel High School in 2011, where he was a wrestler and played soccer. Kiel is a town of just 3,700 people, but an entire nation is mourning the loss of Trevor Casper.

The cold, rainy weather Sunday fit the mood as folks filed into Kiel High School to pay their respects.

"Just to show support from my school, tell the family that they are in our thoughts and prayers," one person said.

Casper graduated from Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wisconsin in May 2014. Tuesday -- the day Trooper Casper lost his life was actually his first solo day on the job as a Wisconsin State Patrol trooper. He graduated from the Wisconsin State Patrol Academy in December 2014.

"He was an excellent officer and very, very proud of what he achieved in the short time he was with the patrol. It doesn`t make any difference if you`ve been here 20 years, or if you`ve been here two minutes -- it`s still the same and you`re still part of our organization," Steve Fitzgerald said.

Retired Calumet County Sheriff Kelly Sippel was back in uniform on Sunday directing traffic. Sippel has worn a badge some 33 years -- a far cry from the young officer he remembered Sunday.

"I guess I was fortunate enough to be here for a long time and it`s just sad that a man who was just starting out his life in law enforcement and his service to the community and it was cut short," Sippel said.

Inside Kiel High School's gymnasium, speakers, including Governor Scott Walker called Casper a hero and one of Wisconsin's finest. They say Casper understood from an early age the meaning of the words "to serve and protect."

In addition to paying their respects at Casper's funeral Sunday, folks put out blue lights Sunday in his honor.

"How do you comprehend what any of these guys do? I mean, God bless them," Darrin Matthies said.

Many of those who were in Kiel on Sunday say they're keeping Casper's family in their prayers, as they know it will take quite a bit of time to come to terms with such a tragic loss.

"The Casper family I have know for many years growing up here in Kiel -- all the boys and the family -- the extended family. This is the community reaching out pretty much," Matthies said.

On Monday, a Wisconsin State Patrol procession will guide Casper's family to Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery for a private burial.

The parents of Wisconsin State Trooper Trevor released a statement on Wednesday, March 25th related to the fatal shooting of their son. They said the following:

More than $34,000 has been raised in a fundraising campaign established to support Trevor Casper's family.

Governor Scott Walker attended Sunday's funeral services and offered these remarks: