Sergeant Root succumbed to wounds received when he was beaten and shot with his own weapon during a traffic stop on West Second Street. Two juvenile suspects attacked him with a jack handle and then shot him with his own weapon. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to the wounds six weeks later. Both suspects were apprehended, but because of delay in Sergeant Root’s death neither was charged with murder.

Sergeant Root had been with the agency for 24 years and was survived by his wife and daughter.