Donation helps fallen officer's family FHP's William Bishop was killed while working an I-75 crash

MOUNT DORA - The investigation into the death of a Highway Patrol master sergeant on Interstate 75 on June 17 could take months to complete, but in the meantime people are reaching out to help his family with donations.

James "Lefty" Bruce recently donated $1,000 to the family of William Trampas Bishop through the Mount Dora Heroes Foundation. Friends and family have also set up a GoFundMe account in honor of the 30-year veteran of the department, according to an FHP spokesman.

The Heroes Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable foundation set up three years ago to bolster the Mount Dora Police Department and to honor fallen officers and fund the K-9 program.

Bruce said it is important to help in cases of "someone who passed on giving to the country or the state. We need to support them as a family."

FHP Capt. Chris Sorvillo, who accepted the donation, said he was "thankful and humbled" by the gift.

Bishop, 52, was outside of his patrol vehicle at the scene of an afternoon accident in the southbound lane of the highway near the High Springs exit when he was struck by a car involved in another accident. He was taken to Shands University of Florida Hospital in Gainesville where he died.

The investigation will take 90 to 120 days "not just because he was one of our own," said FHP Lt. Patrick Riordan.

Investigators are interviewing witnesses, awaiting crime lab results and examining vehicles for possible mechanical failure.

Florida law requires drivers to move over and slow down near accident scenes.

The second accident occurred when a 2016 Ford Fusion driven by Michael T. Korta, 46, of Tampa, was behind a 2007 Cadillac STS and the two vehicles collided. The driver of the Cadillac - John C. Sams, 67, of Lady Lake - had minor injuries, according to the Gainesville Sun.

"Anybody that has ever been near Trampas knows that he's an amazing man and he's dedicated his life to service and he's going to be sorely missed. He's a wonderful man and he's a dedicated public servant," said FHP regional commander Chief Mark Brown the night Bishop was killed.

Bishop left behind a wife and a son. He and his family lived in Lake City.

Riordan doesn't know of any video or photographs that witnesses might have recorded. Anyone with information can call the Jacksonville communications office at 1-800-387-1290.

It is the first death of a trooper in three years, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. There have been 46 deaths since 1936 among highway law enforcement officers.