Please help me understand this news story

[Olympian]

Hello,

The following paragraph is from the news story about the shooting in Virginia.

Virginia State Police said he walked up to officer Deriek W. Crouseafter noon on Thursday and shot him to death as the patrolman sat in his unmarked cruiser during a traffic stop. Ashley was not involved in the stop and did not know the driver, who is cooperating with police, they said.

The gunman's name is Ross Truett Ashley.

From the above paragraph, I understand the situation to be like this:

a. Gunman Ashley walks up to police officer Crouseafter.
b. Crouseafter is sitting in his unmarked cruiser (unmarked police car) during a traffic stop.
c. Ashley was not a part of the stop - i.e he was not in a car
d. the driver was cooperating with the police.


1. Does 'during a traffic stop' mean that Crouseafter was sitting at a traffic signal waiting for the signal to change?

OR

2. that Crouseafter had stopped another person who was driving?

If 2 is correct, then that is the driver (d. above) who was cooperating with the police.


Is my understanding correct?

Thank you.

[Bennevis]

The policeman's last name is Crouse.

If we look for it on the Internet, we'll be able to piece it all together:

LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – Ross Truett Ashley (photo above) has been identified in the Virginia Tech shooting 2011 of Deriek W. Crouse. Ross Truett Ashley killed Virginia Tech Police Office Deriek W. Crouse during a routine traffic stop on Thursday, officials confirm to news. Deriek W. Crouse at 12:15 pm had stopped a car in the Coliseum parking lot. Crouse was inside his car when Ashley walked up and fatally shot the Crouse. Ashley then fled the scene.

Thus:

a. The gunman (Ross T. Ashley) walks up to the police officer (Deriek W. Crouse) and shoots him.
b. Crouse is sitting in his police car during a routine traffic stop.
c. Ashley is not involved in the stop - the stopped driver is.
d. The driver is cooperating with the police.

hth

[Olympian]

The policeman's last name is Crouse.

If we look for it on the Internet, we'll be able to piece it all together:

LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – Ross Truett Ashley (photo above) has been identified in the Virginia Tech shooting 2011 of Deriek W. Crouse. Ross Truett Ashley killed Virginia Tech Police Office Deriek W. Crouse during a routine traffic stop on Thursday, officials confirm to news. Deriek W. Crouse at 12:15 pm had stopped a car in the Coliseum parking lot. Crouse was inside his car when Ashley walked up and fatally shot the Crouse. Ashley then fled the scene.

Thus:

a. The gunman (Ross T. Ashley) walks up to the police officer (Deriek W. Crouse) and shoots him.
b. Crouse is sitting in his police car during a routine traffic stop.
c. Ashley is not involved in the stop - the stopped driver is.
d. The driver is cooperating with the police.

hth

@Bennevis, thank you

I can't believe I got the police officer's name wrong!
His correct name (Crouse) is written under his photo in the Yahoo news link.
When I copied the paragraph, there was no space between 'Crouse' and 'after' and
for some reason, there is a space between 'after' and 'noon' in the news story, instead of 'afternoon'. Still, bad formatting by Yahoo should not be an excuse for my stupidity.

Thank you for the story from another source, which I find easier to understand than Yahoo's.

By the way, in the news story from lalate.com, it says "Ashley walked up and fatally shot the Crouse."

[SoothingDave]

2 is correct. He stopped a driver for some traffic offense.

[Olympian]

2 is correct. He stopped a driver for some traffic offense.

@SoothingDave, thank you.

[SlickVic9000]

(Not a Teacher)

Crouse was likely preoccupied writing the ticket, allowing Ashley to walk right up to the driver's side door and shoot him.