Trooper Mark Hunter Coates was buried Monday in a peaceful clearing in the woods at Chapin, far from the stretch of I-95 where he was gunned down Friday night while searching a car and driver for drugs.
Nearly 2,000 people silently followed a black, riderless horse and the caisson with Coate’s casket down a muddy path, strewn with autumn leaves, to the wooded cemetery behind Chapin Baptist Church.
Among them were hundreds of uniformed officers from several states and scores wearing the blue and gray of South Carolina's Highway Patrol. A trooper, baritone Carl Payne of District 1 Headquarters, sang, and other troopers formed the honor guard that fired a 21-gun salute and folded an American flag for Coate’s widow, Lualice.
Trooper 1st Class Coates was one of them, and his death was an occasion for grown men to cry.
Some did while standing stiff at attention at the gravesite. And it was a time for strangers to comfort strangers, stepping close to offer a supportive hand to grieving officers.
Cmdr. Ron Alford said in a eulogy that losing this officer was like losing his own son. He had gone to Coate’s family himself Friday night rather than sending another trooper.
Coates had recently asked Alford for a transfer so he could spend more time with his family, but "I was selfish and I asked Mark not to leave the ACE team," Alford said.
Coates was shot while on duty with the Aggressive Criminal Enforcement team, a special police unit that focuses on drug enforcement. The team was working near the Georgia-South Carolina border Friday night.
He was the 30th state trooper killed in the line of duty since the Highway Patrol was founded in 1930. Five of those have died in the past five years, reflecting a sharp rise in violence against law enforcement officers, Alford said. Three were killed within the past year, he said.
"Mark's death not only numbs us, but also slaps us in the face with the realization of how dangerous law enforcement is," the commander said. "It is scary to realize that we have come to the point that a human life is worth less to some people than a few ounces of marijuana."
Authorities say marijuana and money were found in the 1967 Mustang that Coates was searching when he was shot.
His pastor, the Rev. Ken Kelley, urged the congregation to forgive the man who has been charged with murder in the trooper's death.
A nursing supervisor at Memorial Medical Center in Savannah said Richard E. Blackburn, 32, of Savannah, was out of critical care Monday after abdominal surgery for wounds he received in a shootout with Coates. He survived five shots from Coate’s 357-caliber Magnum.
A murder warrant was served on him at the hospital, said State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Hugh Munn.
Two shots from Blackburn's 22-caliber Magnum were deflected by Coates' bulletproof vest. A third struck the officer underneath his upraised arm, Highway Patrol spokesman Joseph Pellicci said.
At the funeral in Chapin, Kelley mentioned Blackburn by name, saying, "We must express love and forgiveness as Christians, but as people of the state of South Carolina, we must also demand and pray that justice will be served."
Kelley had been Coate’s friend as well as his pastor. He said he recalled the exact date that the trooper had come to his office in uniform to say he was troubled spiritually and wanted peace.
On that day, 14 months ago, Coates made a Christian commitment, Kelley said, and his life had shown it.
The young trooper had been especially devoted to his family. Not long before he made that fatal traffic stop, he'd paused at a payphone to call his wife, just to say he loved her.
The two of them had just completed a parenting class at church, Kelley said, and Coates was determined to give his children a decent world to grow up in if he could.
The names of Coate’s four children were carefully printed in block letters in his funeral guest book. One had added after her name, "I love him."
It was, church members said, the biggest crowd they have seen there since the modern, brick church was built. The sanctuary was full, and hundreds crowded a nearby fellowship hall to watch the funeral on closed-circuit TV. And when that filled, mourners stood outside on the grass - throngs of them - listening through the windows to organ music and spoken words.
Near dusk, the crowd cleared. Dozens of patrol cars pulled off the grassy expanse in front of the church and onto the two-lane road leading toward Chapin.
Published in The State, Tuesday, November 24, 1992
Corporal Coates was shot and killed after stopping a car for weaving in traffic on I-95 near the Georgia border. During the traffic stop the suspect began to struggle with Corporal Coates and they both fell to the ground. The suspect fired a .22 caliber handgun into Corporal Coates' chest, but the round was stopped by his vest.
Corporal Coates was able to force the man off of him and return fire, striking the suspect five times in the chest with his .357 caliber revolver. As he retreated for cover and to radio for backup, the suspect fired another shot. The round struck Trooper Coates in the left armpit and traveled into his heart. The suspect survived the incident and was sentenced to life in prison.
Corporal Coates had been with the South Carolina Highway patrol for 5 years. He was survived by his wife, two sons, parents, sister and brother.
Mark H. Coates Highway:
The Mark H. Coates Highway is a one-mile portion of Interstate 95 located in Jasper County near Hardeeville and extends one-half mile on both sides of mile marker 7.
In May 1997, the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina passed a resolution to designate this section of Interstate 95 in honor of Lance Corporal Mark Hunter Coates, who served as a trooper with the South Carolina Highway Patrol from 1987 until his death in 1992.
Coates, who was a native of Lexington County, South Carolina was fatally shot on mile marker 7 on November 20, 1992, while being in the line of duty.
Mark Hunter Coates was born on December 7, 1961 to Dave and Beverly Coates in Irmo, S.C. He graduated from Irmo High School in 1980, where he played on the football team.
Nearly 2,000 people silently followed a black, riderless horse and the caisson with Coate’s casket down a muddy path, strewn with autumn leaves, to the wooded cemetery behind Chapin Baptist Church.
Among them were hundreds of uniformed officers from several states and scores wearing the blue and gray of South Carolina's Highway Patrol. A trooper, baritone Carl Payne of District 1 Headquarters, sang, and other troopers formed the honor guard that fired a 21-gun salute and folded an American flag for Coate’s widow, Lualice.
Trooper 1st Class Coates was one of them, and his death was an occasion for grown men to cry.
Some did while standing stiff at attention at the gravesite. And it was a time for strangers to comfort strangers, stepping close to offer a supportive hand to grieving officers.
Cmdr. Ron Alford said in a eulogy that losing this officer was like losing his own son. He had gone to Coate’s family himself Friday night rather than sending another trooper.
Coates had recently asked Alford for a transfer so he could spend more time with his family, but "I was selfish and I asked Mark not to leave the ACE team," Alford said.
Coates was shot while on duty with the Aggressive Criminal Enforcement team, a special police unit that focuses on drug enforcement. The team was working near the Georgia-South Carolina border Friday night.
He was the 30th state trooper killed in the line of duty since the Highway Patrol was founded in 1930. Five of those have died in the past five years, reflecting a sharp rise in violence against law enforcement officers, Alford said. Three were killed within the past year, he said.
"Mark's death not only numbs us, but also slaps us in the face with the realization of how dangerous law enforcement is," the commander said. "It is scary to realize that we have come to the point that a human life is worth less to some people than a few ounces of marijuana."
Authorities say marijuana and money were found in the 1967 Mustang that Coates was searching when he was shot.
His pastor, the Rev. Ken Kelley, urged the congregation to forgive the man who has been charged with murder in the trooper's death.
A nursing supervisor at Memorial Medical Center in Savannah said Richard E. Blackburn, 32, of Savannah, was out of critical care Monday after abdominal surgery for wounds he received in a shootout with Coates. He survived five shots from Coate’s 357-caliber Magnum.
A murder warrant was served on him at the hospital, said State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Hugh Munn.
Two shots from Blackburn's 22-caliber Magnum were deflected by Coates' bulletproof vest. A third struck the officer underneath his upraised arm, Highway Patrol spokesman Joseph Pellicci said.
At the funeral in Chapin, Kelley mentioned Blackburn by name, saying, "We must express love and forgiveness as Christians, but as people of the state of South Carolina, we must also demand and pray that justice will be served."
Kelley had been Coate’s friend as well as his pastor. He said he recalled the exact date that the trooper had come to his office in uniform to say he was troubled spiritually and wanted peace.
On that day, 14 months ago, Coates made a Christian commitment, Kelley said, and his life had shown it.
The young trooper had been especially devoted to his family. Not long before he made that fatal traffic stop, he'd paused at a payphone to call his wife, just to say he loved her.
The two of them had just completed a parenting class at church, Kelley said, and Coates was determined to give his children a decent world to grow up in if he could.
The names of Coate’s four children were carefully printed in block letters in his funeral guest book. One had added after her name, "I love him."
It was, church members said, the biggest crowd they have seen there since the modern, brick church was built. The sanctuary was full, and hundreds crowded a nearby fellowship hall to watch the funeral on closed-circuit TV. And when that filled, mourners stood outside on the grass - throngs of them - listening through the windows to organ music and spoken words.
Near dusk, the crowd cleared. Dozens of patrol cars pulled off the grassy expanse in front of the church and onto the two-lane road leading toward Chapin.
Published in The State, Tuesday, November 24, 1992
Corporal Coates was shot and killed after stopping a car for weaving in traffic on I-95 near the Georgia border. During the traffic stop the suspect began to struggle with Corporal Coates and they both fell to the ground. The suspect fired a .22 caliber handgun into Corporal Coates' chest, but the round was stopped by his vest.
Corporal Coates was able to force the man off of him and return fire, striking the suspect five times in the chest with his .357 caliber revolver. As he retreated for cover and to radio for backup, the suspect fired another shot. The round struck Trooper Coates in the left armpit and traveled into his heart. The suspect survived the incident and was sentenced to life in prison.
Corporal Coates had been with the South Carolina Highway patrol for 5 years. He was survived by his wife, two sons, parents, sister and brother.
Mark H. Coates Highway:
The Mark H. Coates Highway is a one-mile portion of Interstate 95 located in Jasper County near Hardeeville and extends one-half mile on both sides of mile marker 7.
In May 1997, the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina passed a resolution to designate this section of Interstate 95 in honor of Lance Corporal Mark Hunter Coates, who served as a trooper with the South Carolina Highway Patrol from 1987 until his death in 1992.
Coates, who was a native of Lexington County, South Carolina was fatally shot on mile marker 7 on November 20, 1992, while being in the line of duty.
Mark Hunter Coates was born on December 7, 1961 to Dave and Beverly Coates in Irmo, S.C. He graduated from Irmo High School in 1980, where he played on the football team.
Trooper Mark Hunter Coates was buried Monday in a peaceful clearing in the woods at Chapin, far from the stretch of I-95 where he was gunned down Friday night while searching a car and driver for drugs.
Nearly 2,000 people silently followed a black, riderless horse and the caisson with Coate’s casket down a muddy path, strewn with autumn leaves, to the wooded cemetery behind Chapin Baptist Church.
Among them were hundreds of uniformed officers from several states and scores wearing the blue and gray of South Carolina's Highway Patrol. A trooper, baritone Carl Payne of District 1 Headquarters, sang, and other troopers formed the honor guard that fired a 21-gun salute and folded an American flag for Coate’s widow, Lualice.
Trooper 1st Class Coates was one of them, and his death was an occasion for grown men to cry.
Some did while standing stiff at attention at the gravesite. And it was a time for strangers to comfort strangers, stepping close to offer a supportive hand to grieving officers.
Cmdr. Ron Alford said in a eulogy that losing this officer was like losing his own son. He had gone to Coate’s family himself Friday night rather than sending another trooper.
Coates had recently asked Alford for a transfer so he could spend more time with his family, but "I was selfish and I asked Mark not to leave the ACE team," Alford said.
Coates was shot while on duty with the Aggressive Criminal Enforcement team, a special police unit that focuses on drug enforcement. The team was working near the Georgia-South Carolina border Friday night.
He was the 30th state trooper killed in the line of duty since the Highway Patrol was founded in 1930. Five of those have died in the past five years, reflecting a sharp rise in violence against law enforcement officers, Alford said. Three were killed within the past year, he said.
"Mark's death not only numbs us, but also slaps us in the face with the realization of how dangerous law enforcement is," the commander said. "It is scary to realize that we have come to the point that a human life is worth less to some people than a few ounces of marijuana."
Authorities say marijuana and money were found in the 1967 Mustang that Coates was searching when he was shot.
His pastor, the Rev. Ken Kelley, urged the congregation to forgive the man who has been charged with murder in the trooper's death.
A nursing supervisor at Memorial Medical Center in Savannah said Richard E. Blackburn, 32, of Savannah, was out of critical care Monday after abdominal surgery for wounds he received in a shootout with Coates. He survived five shots from Coate’s 357-caliber Magnum.
A murder warrant was served on him at the hospital, said State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Hugh Munn.
Two shots from Blackburn's 22-caliber Magnum were deflected by Coates' bulletproof vest. A third struck the officer underneath his upraised arm, Highway Patrol spokesman Joseph Pellicci said.
At the funeral in Chapin, Kelley mentioned Blackburn by name, saying, "We must express love and forgiveness as Christians, but as people of the state of South Carolina, we must also demand and pray that justice will be served."
Kelley had been Coate’s friend as well as his pastor. He said he recalled the exact date that the trooper had come to his office in uniform to say he was troubled spiritually and wanted peace.
On that day, 14 months ago, Coates made a Christian commitment, Kelley said, and his life had shown it.
The young trooper had been especially devoted to his family. Not long before he made that fatal traffic stop, he'd paused at a payphone to call his wife, just to say he loved her.
The two of them had just completed a parenting class at church, Kelley said, and Coates was determined to give his children a decent world to grow up in if he could.
The names of Coate’s four children were carefully printed in block letters in his funeral guest book. One had added after her name, "I love him."
It was, church members said, the biggest crowd they have seen there since the modern, brick church was built. The sanctuary was full, and hundreds crowded a nearby fellowship hall to watch the funeral on closed-circuit TV. And when that filled, mourners stood outside on the grass - throngs of them - listening through the windows to organ music and spoken words.
Near dusk, the crowd cleared. Dozens of patrol cars pulled off the grassy expanse in front of the church and onto the two-lane road leading toward Chapin.
Published in The State, Tuesday, November 24, 1992
Corporal Coates was shot and killed after stopping a car for weaving in traffic on I-95 near the Georgia border. During the traffic stop the suspect began to struggle with Corporal Coates and they both fell to the ground. The suspect fired a .22 caliber handgun into Corporal Coates' chest, but the round was stopped by his vest.
Corporal Coates was able to force the man off of him and return fire, striking the suspect five times in the chest with his .357 caliber revolver. As he retreated for cover and to radio for backup, the suspect fired another shot. The round struck Trooper Coates in the left armpit and traveled into his heart. The suspect survived the incident and was sentenced to life in prison.
Corporal Coates had been with the South Carolina Highway patrol for 5 years. He was survived by his wife, two sons, parents, sister and brother.
Mark H. Coates Highway:
The Mark H. Coates Highway is a one-mile portion of Interstate 95 located in Jasper County near Hardeeville and extends one-half mile on both sides of mile marker 7.
In May 1997, the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina passed a resolution to designate this section of Interstate 95 in honor of Lance Corporal Mark Hunter Coates, who served as a trooper with the South Carolina Highway Patrol from 1987 until his death in 1992.
Coates, who was a native of Lexington County, South Carolina was fatally shot on mile marker 7 on November 20, 1992, while being in the line of duty.
Mark Hunter Coates was born on December 7, 1961 to Dave and Beverly Coates in Irmo, S.C. He graduated from Irmo High School in 1980, where he played on the football team.
Nearly 2,000 people silently followed a black, riderless horse and the caisson with Coate’s casket down a muddy path, strewn with autumn leaves, to the wooded cemetery behind Chapin Baptist Church.
Among them were hundreds of uniformed officers from several states and scores wearing the blue and gray of South Carolina's Highway Patrol. A trooper, baritone Carl Payne of District 1 Headquarters, sang, and other troopers formed the honor guard that fired a 21-gun salute and folded an American flag for Coate’s widow, Lualice.
Trooper 1st Class Coates was one of them, and his death was an occasion for grown men to cry.
Some did while standing stiff at attention at the gravesite. And it was a time for strangers to comfort strangers, stepping close to offer a supportive hand to grieving officers.
Cmdr. Ron Alford said in a eulogy that losing this officer was like losing his own son. He had gone to Coate’s family himself Friday night rather than sending another trooper.
Coates had recently asked Alford for a transfer so he could spend more time with his family, but "I was selfish and I asked Mark not to leave the ACE team," Alford said.
Coates was shot while on duty with the Aggressive Criminal Enforcement team, a special police unit that focuses on drug enforcement. The team was working near the Georgia-South Carolina border Friday night.
He was the 30th state trooper killed in the line of duty since the Highway Patrol was founded in 1930. Five of those have died in the past five years, reflecting a sharp rise in violence against law enforcement officers, Alford said. Three were killed within the past year, he said.
"Mark's death not only numbs us, but also slaps us in the face with the realization of how dangerous law enforcement is," the commander said. "It is scary to realize that we have come to the point that a human life is worth less to some people than a few ounces of marijuana."
Authorities say marijuana and money were found in the 1967 Mustang that Coates was searching when he was shot.
His pastor, the Rev. Ken Kelley, urged the congregation to forgive the man who has been charged with murder in the trooper's death.
A nursing supervisor at Memorial Medical Center in Savannah said Richard E. Blackburn, 32, of Savannah, was out of critical care Monday after abdominal surgery for wounds he received in a shootout with Coates. He survived five shots from Coate’s 357-caliber Magnum.
A murder warrant was served on him at the hospital, said State Law Enforcement Division spokesman Hugh Munn.
Two shots from Blackburn's 22-caliber Magnum were deflected by Coates' bulletproof vest. A third struck the officer underneath his upraised arm, Highway Patrol spokesman Joseph Pellicci said.
At the funeral in Chapin, Kelley mentioned Blackburn by name, saying, "We must express love and forgiveness as Christians, but as people of the state of South Carolina, we must also demand and pray that justice will be served."
Kelley had been Coate’s friend as well as his pastor. He said he recalled the exact date that the trooper had come to his office in uniform to say he was troubled spiritually and wanted peace.
On that day, 14 months ago, Coates made a Christian commitment, Kelley said, and his life had shown it.
The young trooper had been especially devoted to his family. Not long before he made that fatal traffic stop, he'd paused at a payphone to call his wife, just to say he loved her.
The two of them had just completed a parenting class at church, Kelley said, and Coates was determined to give his children a decent world to grow up in if he could.
The names of Coate’s four children were carefully printed in block letters in his funeral guest book. One had added after her name, "I love him."
It was, church members said, the biggest crowd they have seen there since the modern, brick church was built. The sanctuary was full, and hundreds crowded a nearby fellowship hall to watch the funeral on closed-circuit TV. And when that filled, mourners stood outside on the grass - throngs of them - listening through the windows to organ music and spoken words.
Near dusk, the crowd cleared. Dozens of patrol cars pulled off the grassy expanse in front of the church and onto the two-lane road leading toward Chapin.
Published in The State, Tuesday, November 24, 1992
Corporal Coates was shot and killed after stopping a car for weaving in traffic on I-95 near the Georgia border. During the traffic stop the suspect began to struggle with Corporal Coates and they both fell to the ground. The suspect fired a .22 caliber handgun into Corporal Coates' chest, but the round was stopped by his vest.
Corporal Coates was able to force the man off of him and return fire, striking the suspect five times in the chest with his .357 caliber revolver. As he retreated for cover and to radio for backup, the suspect fired another shot. The round struck Trooper Coates in the left armpit and traveled into his heart. The suspect survived the incident and was sentenced to life in prison.
Corporal Coates had been with the South Carolina Highway patrol for 5 years. He was survived by his wife, two sons, parents, sister and brother.
Mark H. Coates Highway:
The Mark H. Coates Highway is a one-mile portion of Interstate 95 located in Jasper County near Hardeeville and extends one-half mile on both sides of mile marker 7.
In May 1997, the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina passed a resolution to designate this section of Interstate 95 in honor of Lance Corporal Mark Hunter Coates, who served as a trooper with the South Carolina Highway Patrol from 1987 until his death in 1992.
Coates, who was a native of Lexington County, South Carolina was fatally shot on mile marker 7 on November 20, 1992, while being in the line of duty.
Mark Hunter Coates was born on December 7, 1961 to Dave and Beverly Coates in Irmo, S.C. He graduated from Irmo High School in 1980, where he played on the football team.
