Virginia State Police Special Agent Dead; Suspect in Custody

RICHMOND, Virginia -- A Virginia State Police special agent who was killed in a shooting in Richmond was a 18-year veteran of the force, according to the Virginia State Police.

VSP Special Agent Michael T. Walter of Powhatan County was 45. He was a member of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Richmond Field Office Drug Enforcement Section

Walter was riding in a marked Richmond Police Department SUV Friday as part of an ongoing partnership between the two agencies

Walter and the Richmond officer pulled up behind a silver Chevrolet Cobalt that was parked in the wrong direction on a street near the Mosby Court public housing complex around 7:35 p.m.

They approached the car to speak with the occupants. While the Richmond Police officer was talking to the driver, Walter walked over to the passenger side where police say 27-year-old Travis A. Ball was sitting.

Ball shot once, police said, and took off running. Walter was rushed to VCU Medical Center, where he died shortly after 5 a.m. Saturday.

The driver of the car was detained and a handgun was recovered at the scene near the car.

Ball, of Richmond, is in custody after a manhunt that went on through the night. He was apprehended shortly after 6 a.m. at a home in Northumberland County.

Ball has been charged with malicious wounding, possession of a firearm by a felon and use of a firearm in a felony. Additional charges are pending, state police said.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe tweeted a statement Saturday morning expressing gratitude for Walter's service, which noted that Walter was married and had children.

"Special Agent Walter was one of our brave men and women in uniform who risk their lives every single day to protect their fellow Virginians. We will be forever grateful for his service and sacrifice," McAuliffe said in the statement.

Walter is the 63rd member of the Virginia State Police to die in the line of duty since 1932, according to the state police.

The special agent was remembered Saturday by Virginia State Police Superintendent Colonel W. Steven Flaherty as someone who worked to improve his community, founding a non-profit youth wrestling group in Powhatan County.

"Mike is well-known not only for his passion for criminal justice, but also for his commitment and passion to bettering the lives of local youth," Flaherty said, according to a release from state police.

Walter was a United States Marine Corps veteran and spent two years as an officer with the Virginia Division of Capitol Police before joining the state police in 1998, first working in Northern Virginia and then moving to Richmond.

His survived by his wife and three children.