Patrolman Claude Lanstra

Claude Lanstra

Patrolman Lanstra and Patrolman Erhardt Meyer were shot and killed by the driver of a vehicle wanted for hit-and-run. The two had been investigating the accident and had just left the police station when other officers heard several shots fired. When they responded to the scene at E. Jefferson and Wayburn in Grosse Pointe Park, the other officers found Patrolman Lanstra on the ground and Patrolman Meyer still in the patrol car, both mortally wounded.

The responding officers spotted the vehicle and exchanged shots with it when they tried to stop it. Both suspects were apprehended. One later died in prison and the second was acquitted after receiving a new trial.

Patrolman Lanstra had been with the agency for one year. He was survived by his parents and two brothers -- one of whom served as the police chief for St. Clair Shores, Michigan.