Senior Trooper Larry Gene Hacker, a 34-year-old member of the West Virginia State Police, was shot while responding to a neighborhood dispute near Pullman in rural Ritchie County on the night of April 8–9, 1993. Hacker and Trooper S.J. Verdow had been dispatched after Jack Langford reported that his neighbor, Dennis Ferguson, parked a pickup truck blocking the roadway. The encounter escalated when a shot rang out before the officers reached Ferguson’s residence; Hacker was struck in the left side and gunfire between Ferguson and responding officers continued for roughly 15 to 30 minutes.

Deputy Gary Hissom exposed himself to the gunfire to pull the wounded trooper toward safety. Medical personnel were reportedly kept away for about an hour while the standoff continued; once it was safe, Hacker was flown to Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital and died of his wounds in the early hours of April 9, 1993. Ferguson fled into nearby woods, was captured about two hours after the shooting with an injury above his right eye, and was charged with first-degree murder and held without bond. He later died by suicide in jail before the case went to trial.

Hacker had graduated from the State Police Academy in August 1989 and had previously worked as a security guard. He left behind his wife, Diane, and two daughters, Erica and Julia. Does anyone have memories of that night or information about the long-running dispute between the families?