Tarpon Springs police officer dies while off duty
The Tarpon Springs Police Department announced that Maj. Michael Trill died Saturday while off duty of an unspecified “medical issue.” He was 53 years old.
Trill worked for the department for more than 27 years, according to a statement.
He joined the agency in 1995 and was regarded within the department as a leader, according to previous news stories.
In 2010, Trill responded to reports of a shooting at a Publix on U.S. 19, where a recently fired employee had shot her co-worker to death and was walking around the store with a gun inside a shopping bag. The woman, Arunya Rouch, opened fire when officers found her.
One bullet hit an officer’s gun belt, according to police. Trill fired back and shot Rouch multiple times. She survived and was later convicted.
Trill was an undercover narcotics officer in the 1990s. His work earned him a commendation within the department, but he and other officers were also the subject of an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into alleged misconduct. Amid that inquiry, a former officer told investigators that Trill had described himself as “the necessary evil.”
The state investigation ended without any officers being charged.
No further information about Trill’s death was immediately available Sunday.
