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Zapata memorial highway bill approved

WMUK

Interstate 94 in Kalamazoo County is just a step away from being renamed in honor of a public safety officer killed in the line of duty. State lawmakers have approved a bill to call the 25-mile stretch of freeway the "Officer Eric Zapata Memorial Highway".

Zapata was a Kalamazoo Public Safety officer who was killed while investigating reports of shots fired in the Edison neighborhood in April 2011.

Zapata was the first officer to be shot to death in the line of duty in the city's history. He was only the second law enforcement officer to die that way in Kalamazoo County since the 1860's.

The bill renaming I-94 in Zapata's memory now goes to Gov. Rick Snyder for his signature.

Andy Robins has been WMUK's News Director since 1998 and a broadcast journalist for over 24 years. He joined WMUK's staff in 1985. Under his direction, WMUK has received numerous awards for news reporting.