CANTON —  The alleged killer of a North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper was indicted by a Haywood County grand jury on Monday for first-degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Trooper David Shawn Blanton Jr. was shot twice during a traffic stop on Interstate 40 near Canton on the night of June 17.
Blanton was taken to Mission Hospitals, where he later died.

Blanton, 24, of Cherokee was a two-year veteran of the patrol. He was married and had a two-week-old child.

Shortly after the shooting, Haywood County and Canton law enforcement officers found the suspect, Edwardo Wong II, 37.

Documents presented Monday indicated that Wong fired as many as four shots later at a detective who successfully chased him down after Blanton’s shooting.

Blanton is the first trooper in North Carolina to be fatally assaulted since 1997. He also was the first enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokees to become a state trooper.