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Friends remember toll booth shooting victim, Ronald Heist

YORK, Pa. — One of the victims of the turnpike toll booth shooting was working as a Schaad Detective Agency security guard. Ronald Heist was a 71-year-old...

YORK, Pa. -- One of the victims of the turnpike toll booth shooting was working as a Schaad Detective Agency security guard.

Ronald Heist was a 71-year-old retired York City police officer.

Dennis Smith, a fellow retired police officer, said, "It's such a tragic thing to have to go out like this."

Heist was a police officer for about 30 years and later worked as a York County park ranger. He worked for some of those years in the K-9 unit along with Smith.

They lost contact, but saw each other at an Association meeting last Monday.

Smith said, "Even when we contacted each other. It was like it was yesterday."

Heist was there for many of Smith's memorable moments.

"He was there when my youngest daughter was born," he said.

Smith remembered Heist for his uplifting spirit.

"Always amicable about things and a great guy," he said.

York City Police Chief Wes Kahley said Heist will be added to the memorial wall in the department's lobby. The outside of the building was decorated in black in his honor.

Kahley said, "You hate losing a friend. You hate losing a brother officer, especially with everything that's going on around the country right now anyway. It seems like police are under attack and there's a lot of crazy stuff that's going on."

He remembered when he started at the department and how Heist would joke with him.

"He loved to train dogs, he was into martial arts so we would have those conversations. He was a funny guy. All those older guys when you come on as a rookie, they're all characters," Kahley said.

Not only was he a good friend and colleague, he was also a giving neighbor. One of his neighbors, Josh Reptsik, had cancer and was disabled a couple of years ago.

Reptsik said, "I couldn't mow the lawn and I looked out one day and he was just coming through here with his tractor. I've tried numerous times to reciprocate and he'd just shoot it down and say that's what neighbors are for."

But his friends want Heist to be remembered mainly for his accomplishments.

Smith said, "He was more than a security guard. He was a retired york city police officer with an honorable career."

Kahley said York City police officers will attend Heist's funeral.

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