In the summer of 1983, a routine burglary call in Burton, Michigan, turned into a tragedy that would be remembered for decades. On the night of July 5th, Patrolman Terry Lee Thompson, a 32-year-old officer with the Burton Police Department, responded to an alarm at a local store. An alarm monitoring company had detected voices inside the building and promptly alerted both the store manager and the police.
Upon his arrival, the store manager unlocked the premises, allowing Officer Thompson to enter and investigate the source of the disturbance. Moments after he stepped inside, the quiet of the night was shattered by the sound of gunfire. Hidden within the store were two 16-year-old suspects. One of them, Shane Patrick Richey, opened fire, striking Officer Thompson multiple times. Despite the immediate response of fellow officers who surrounded the building, they were unable to reach their fallen colleague for two agonizing hours. By the time they could get to him, Patrolman Thompson had succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation that followed led to the swift arrest of the two teenage suspects. Shane Patrick Richey, the shooter, was tried as an adult, convicted of murder, and sentenced to life in prison. His accomplice was convicted on a lesser charge of breaking and entering and was eventually released from prison. For years, the story of Officer Thompson's murder and the life sentence of his killer remained a settled matter in the community.
However, a change in Michigan law regarding juvenile offenders sentenced to life led to a re-examination of Richey's case. In 2021, his life sentence was reconsidered, and he was resentenced to a term of 40 to 60 years. This decision opened the possibility of his future release, a development that was met with significant opposition from the family of Terry Lee Thompson and members of the law enforcement community who remembered the dedicated service of the fallen officer and U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
