‘A hero’: Remembering Trooper Kevin Conner one year after his death

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — One year ago, the lives of so many people were changed forever. State Trooper Kevin Conner lost his life in the line of duty.

Now, we reflect on the man many call a hero.

Over the past year countless people have said Conner is something special.

“To us, Kevin was Superman,” friend TJ Spivey said.

It seems like he was known by everyone.

“He was just everybody’s buddy,” friend Clay Hughes said.

Spivey has one word to describe Conner.

“Really just ‘hero’,” Spivey said.

When Spivey got the news, he says he didn’t want to believe it.

“My brother called me around 4 a.m. and I was thinking, ‘What does he want this late?'” he said. “I actually woke up hours later and thought I had dreamed it.”

Spivey thought, ‘It can’t be Conner, never in a million years.’

Conner’s friends share their initial reactions when the reality sank in.

“That it’s just not fair,” Spivey said.

“Disbelief, just shock,” Hughes said.

The shock that Conner was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in Columbus County. The shock that’s still raw for his many friends.

“There are no words I could ever say to describe Kevin to someone who never met him,” Spivey said.

Spivey was friends with Conner for almost 20 years, and says they hit it off from the moment they met. He shares some of the things he misses the most.

“Kevin’s smile,” he said. “He had the most contagious smile you’ve ever seen. And two, he was the greatest storyteller you’ve ever met.”

It was a life taken too soon. But in darkness, there is light.

“Looking at the life he lived, he set an example for me and so many other people to follow with the type of person he was and the way he touched so many lives,” Hughes said.

And the lives he still does touch today.

“I see more people being open about that support for law enforcement,” Spivey said. “I see more blue line flags, and every time I see it, I immediately think of Kevin.”

It’s something he and so many others will always do.

“Everybody I’ve ever met, has a Kevin Conner story,” Spivey said.

Just last week, a bill was signed known as “Conner’s Law”. The law was created in part to protect families of fallen law enforcement officers.

The Kevin Conner Memorial Run will also be held Saturday in Whiteville.