Flags to fly at half staff on Wednesday in honor of South Carolina trooper who died after being hit during traffic stop

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) — South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff on Wednesday in tribute to a state trooper who died days after being struck by a vehicle during a traffic stop near Orangeburg.

Trooper First Class Dennis Ricks was conducting a traffic stop on I-26 at mile marker 166 when he was struck by a box truck around 2 a.m. on August 10. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he ultimately succumbed to life-threatening injuries a few days later.

Flags atop the State House, state buildings, and military installations will be lowered to half-staff from sunset to sunset on August 20 in honor of Ricks’ “selfless service and supreme sacrifice in the line of duty,” per the governor’s order.

“Dennis wore the uniform because he believed in serving others,” Ricks’ wife, Jade, said during an August 15 press conference. “He loved his family with his whole heart. Everything he did was for us.”

Ricks had served in Troop 7 of the South Carolina Highway Patrol since 2023, and the law enforcement community responded with an outpouring of support in the wake of his death.

He will be laid to rest at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Shandon Baptist Church in Columbia, following a funeral procession.