What did the Dover Woman Write Her Family Members Before Dying?
Detective Mentz serves, protects, and comforts.
The Delaware State Police in Dover outlined the crime scene with yellow tape. Lieutenant Anton Mentz arrived at the scene. He was about 5”11’, and walked with a bit of a cowboy swagger.
“We have a woman, 27, in what appears to be a shooting homicide. We’re investigating,” Mentz told the Daily Delaware.
The lieutenant talked to a few people on the scene then sent some more state troopers to collect evidence.
“There seems to have been a minor scuffle at the convenience store between two men. The young woman was caught in the crossfire. She had no relation to either of the men, and just wanted to pay for some bread and milk.”
Glass had shattered near the entrance to the store where one round ricocheted off of the counter. When the onlookers were asked to leave the premises, one of them noticed that the woman had a smartphone by her side.
“Apparently, before any police or other personnel arrived on the scene, the cashier and the store owner rushed to the young woman. She was dying but had enough strength to type “Love” and send it to all of her contacts. Shortly after, she went into cardiac arrest and perished. We are currently getting in touch with those contacts,” Mentz reported.
As the Medical Examiner arrived on the scene, some of the woman’s family members arrived to see what had happened. They cried, wiped away tears, hugged, and consoled each other.
“I see this on a regular basis,” Mentz related. “This is where my job gets thick. It’s like I have to do extra duty. I play the detective role, which entails discovering who did this, and why, so I can get justice for the victims and their families. him or her to justice. I also have to play the role of a comforter for the grieving families. I love my job, I’m just not in love with all of it.”
With the woman’s body finally removed from the scene, the investigators could inspect the grounds further.
“This is actually my favorite and least favorite part,” Mentz chuckled lightly. “I get to be the bossman for about a half an hour before I report back to the captain, the real boss.” Mentz grinned but didn’t laugh this time.
“Anyway, you’ve got to keep it professional, but there’s always gallows humor when talking about cases like this. We have to keep up our spirits, or these situations will gnaw at our souls.”
Mentz instructed a corporal to section off more of the scene so that the criminal investigators would have greater access to where the woman was struck and killed. He performed a thorough check on all of his officers, and ensured their safety and overall well-being.
“I’ve got to look out for them. They’re not exactly having fun out here, either. I’ve got to make sure they’re okay, that the stress isn’t getting to them. We need to have officers who are human. That’s the only way to police.”
For all of his years in the service of the state of Delaware, Mentz had considered crimes like this shooting to be particularly shameful.
“Whoever did it was a coward. He or she just shot into a store, gunning down a wife and mother of two small boys. It’s crazy. We’re the only ones standing guard against the nonsense on behalf of civilized society. It’s a mess, but I signed up for this. A lot of people say ‘I didn’t sign up for this.’ Well, I can tell you, even though it’s hard sometimes, I’m well aware no one else put my name on that dotted line, so I signed up for this.”
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