Mayor says city is proud of slain Illinois State trooper, as ‘son of Waterloo’ returns home
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An Illinois state trooper killed in East St. Louis
Read the BND’s previous coverage of the killing of Nicholas Hopkins while Illinois State Police served a no-knock warrant in East St. Louis in August 2019.
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Waterloo residents gathered Monday afternoon to welcome Illinois State Police Trooper Nicholas Hopkins home one last time.
Streets lined with residents bearing American flags and at City Hall, an ISP vehicle-turned-shrine was draped with flowers, gifts and other mementos of Hopkins.
Hopkins, 33, was born and raised in Waterloo, where he was well known throughout town. He was shot in East St. Louis while serving a search warrant and died about 12 hours later at Saint Louis University Hospital on Friday.
A police-led procession transported Hopkins from St. Louis, through town and to Quernheim Funeral Home in Waterloo.
Mayor Tom Smith, who is a retired Illinois State Police trooper, said with the “senseless” loss of Hopkins, Waterloo loses one of its sons and troopers lose a brother.
“I lost a brother in arms,” Smith said. “To lose somebody like this is senseless — we’ve gotta change. We gotta start showing compassion and kindness to each other.”
He said seeing the streets of Waterloo fill with people honoring Hopkins was a proud moment. He said he hopes that everyone will take a page out of Hopkins’ book and do something kind for someone, something Hopkins was known for.
“I’m very proud of Waterloo for coming out for their son,” he said. “Nick’s a son of Waterloo. We’re very proud of him.”
Beyond being a state trooper, Hopkins was a husband and the father of 4-year-old twins and a newly born daughter. He graduated from Waterloo High School, and his father has been an alderman in Waterloo for nearly 17 years. One of his brothers, Zack Hopkins, is a police sergeant in nearby Columbia.
His friend and pastor at Life Community Church, Jamey Bridges, remembered him as a man who “said yes too much” and who found joy in small things.
“His problem, I always told him, was that he said yes too much. He was involved with everything,” Bridges said.
He was remembered at a gathering of the church in Metter Park in Columbia Sunday that approximately 400 people attended. There, in a recorded message, his wife Whitney reminded the congregation to be kind, words her husband lived by.
“You can never do kindness too soon, because you never know how soon it can be too late,” she said. “I just want to ask you all to close your eyes, think of your families, hold them tight, love them hard and pray harder.”
Funeral service
The visitation will be 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Waterloo High School at 505 E. Bulldog. A first-responder and military walk-through will begin at 6 p.m.
The funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Sunday at Waterloo High School. Interment services are still being finalized.
This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 2:42 PM.
