WAYNE COUNTY, N.C. — N.C. State Highway Patrol Trooper Nolan J. Sanders died in a car crash while on duty Friday night, according to a statement from the agency.
Trooper Sanders was driving on I-795 in Wayne County when his patrol vehicle left the roadway. He crashed into a concrete culvert off the right shoulder around 7:17 p.m. and was pronounced deceased at the scene of the collision.
The agency did not say what specifically caused the trooper to drive off the roadway.
Trooper Sanders is a five-year veteran of the N.C. State Highway Patrol.
“Our SHP family is devastated by the loss of Trooper Nolan Sanders this evening,” commander of the State Highway Patrol, Colonel Glenn M. McNeill, Jr., said in a statement Friday.
“Trooper Sanders personified what it meant to be a Trooper," Colonel McNeill added. "His passing will leave a lasting mark on all that had the honor to work together with him. The coming days and weeks will prove to be difficult, but we will stand with the Sanders family throughout this difficult process.”
The N.C. State Highway Patrol Collision Reconstruction Unit is continuing the investigation.