The Tarpon Springs Police Department announced that Maj. Michael Trill died Saturday while off-duty from 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 considered a leader within the department, according to previous reports.
Tarpon Springs Police Maj. Michael Trill is seen at the annual Epiphany celebration on Jan. 6, 2022. The Tarpon Springs Police Department announced Trill’s death Saturday. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]
In 2010, Trill responded to reports of a shooting at a Publix on US 19, where a recently fired employee had shot and killed her co-worker and was walking around the store with a gun in a shopping bag. The woman, Arunya Roachopened fire when officers found her.
One bullet grazed an officer’s gun belt, police said. Trill fired and shot Rouch several times. She survived and was later convicted.
Trill was an undercover narcotics officer in the 1990s. His work earned him department praise, but he and other officers were also the subject of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into an alleged bad behavior In the midst of that investigation, a former officer told investigators that Trill had described himself as “necessary evil.”
The state’s investigation ended without any officers being charged.
No further information about Trill’s death was available Sunday.
