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A memorial to honor fallen Sgt. Bill Hooser is unveiled Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at Santaquin City Hall.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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A memorial to honor fallen Sgt. Bill Hooser is unveiled Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at Santaquin City Hall.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Kinda Hooser, the wife of fallen Sgt. Bill Hooser, speaks in a Santaquin City Council meeting Tuesday, May 5, 2026.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Santaquin Police Cheif Rod Hurst speaks in a Santaquin City Council meeting Tuesday, May 5, 2026.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Friends and family examine a memorial to honor fallen Sgt. Bill Hooser is unveiled Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at Santaquin City Hall.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Santaquin Mayor Dan Olson speaks in a Santaquin City Council meeting Tuesday, May 5, 2026.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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In the two years since Sgt. Bill Hooser was killed in the line of duty, Santaquin Police Chief Rod Hurst has frequently been asked what it was like to endure such a tragedy.

Tasked with speaking publicly about Hooser and the events that unfolded on May 5, 2024, on multiple occasions, he said he is still unsure how to answer that question.

“There are no words that can fully describe the overwhelming sense of despair and obligation when one of your own falls in the line of duty,” Hurst said at Tuesday’s city council meeting, prior to the unveiling of a memorial in Hooser’s honor. 

“I cannot explain why a middle-aged police officer with significant life experiences, who by all accounts was squared away, was killed on May 5, 2024. He was not careless, he was not reckless, and when it came to the job, Sgt. Hooser was the example.”

Hooser was killed when authorities say Michael Jayne intentionally hit the sergeant with a semi-truck after fleeing a traffic stop on Interstate 15 in Santaquin.

The Santaquin community has rallied around a grieving family and police department over the last two years with a number of tributes. Most recently, the city council declared May to be “Bill Hooser Memorial Month,” and a day of service was held last Saturday in Hooser’s honor. Banners memorializing Hooser are currently hung on street poles along Main Street.

In what he described as a final tribute to Hooser, Hurst said they wanted to honor him with a display in a public place. Hooser’s family, officers and community members gathered at City Hall Tuesday for the unveiling of a memorial.

The display sits behind a glass-enclosed case, inside a large wooden frame at the front entrance of the building. It reads: “In Memory of Sergeant Bill Hooser, End of Watch – May 5, 2024.” Inside is an image of Hooser with a pair of medals, his officer uniform and shoes, a folded American flag and framed images from his funeral.

“We wanted everybody who enters this building to know the history of the Santaquin City police officer who paid the ultimate price to help protect their quality of life,” Hurst said.

The unveiling ceremony carried a reverent tone filled with emotion from many of Hooser’s loved ones, who lined up to examine the memorial and lingered in the atrium to connect with one another.

Kinda Hooser, the wife of the late Sergeant, expressed her gratitude to the city for choosing to honor her husband in a lasting way.

“This shadow box represents far more than a career,” Kinda Hooser said. “It represents a life of service, courage and sacrifice. Each piece within it tells a part of his story, a story of a man who chose every single day to put on the uniform, to protect, to serve and to give himself for the safety of this community.

“But to me, he was more than the badge. He was my husband, my partner … my best friend. Behind the uniform was a man who loved deeply, who showed up for his family and who carried both strength and kindness in everything that he did.” 

Building the memorial required a community effort. Hurst said the display box was built by a local cabinet maker who requested anonymity, lighting was installed by Keith Ross — a retired firefighter who owns a Payson landscape lighting company, and the artwork was done by a designer named Mark Caron. 

“It was kind of a joint effort,” Hurst said. “I just give them the idea, and they’re the ones that had the creative minds to come up with that design.”

As time passes, Hurst said he hopes the memorial serves as a reminder of what can happen, and what hopefully will never happen again. The events of May 5, 2024, undoubtedly left a lasting impression on Santaquin and its police department, even if the feelings are tough to articulate.

“There’s certainly a reverence or a different perspective on life, on what’s important and maybe what isn’t as important as you thought it was before something like this happens,” Hurst told the Daily Herald. “There’s a different kind of bond that the officers have, the ones who were working here at the time. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just different.”