St. Louis man indicted on federal charges in killing of Illinois state trooper

A grand jury introduced an eight-count indictment against a St. Louis man in the fatal shooting of Illinois State Trooper Nicholas Hopkins. File Photo courtesy Illinois State Police

March 20 (UPI) — A federal grand jury on Thursday charged a St. Louis man in the fatal shooting of an Illinois state trooper last year.

The St. Louis grand jury returned an eight-count indictment against Christopher Grant, 46, including a charge for using a firearm to shoot and kill Illinois state trooper Nicholas Hopkins, 33, the Department of Justice said.

Grant was charged with three counts of distribution of crack cocaine, maintaining a drug house, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, use of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, use of a firearm to commit murder in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a firearm by a felon.

The shooting took place Aug. 23, and Grant has been held in state custody on first-degree murder charges since.

Hopkins was killed during a shootout while executing a search warrant with other SWAT team members in a residential neighborhood in east St. Louis.

He was the first Illinois State Police trooper shot and killed since Virgil Lee Bensyl died attempting to arrest a suspect in 1988.

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