Las Vegas Sun

April 18, 2024

Flags at half-staff to honor slain Highway Patrol sergeant

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has ordered that flags at state buildings and grounds be flown at half-staff Wednesday in honor of a Highway Patrol sergeant killed in the line of duty.

Sisolak said in a statement that he ordered the honor “as a mark of solemn respect and remembrance" for Sgt. Ben Jenkins whose funeral was scheduled Wednesday in Elko.

Sisolak previously ordered that flags to be flown at half-staff on four days in late March and said Wednesday he wanted the state to again recognize Jenkins “for his commendable service."

Jenkins was fatally shot on a remote road in northeast Nevada, leading to the arrest of John Leonard Dabritz who awaits trial on charges of murder and other crimes.

Jenkins was alone on duty when he was killed just before dawn after stopping to check on a motorist in a rented pickup on the side of U.S. 93, according to Dabritz’s arrest report and criminal complaint.