WASHINGTON – The Virginia Tech University police officer killed during a campus shooting last year will be the first fallen officer honored with an engraving on a national memorial this year.

The panel that features Officer Deriek Crouse’s name will be unveiled at the National Law Enforcement Memorial during a ceremony in D.C. Thursday, said Steve Groeninger, spokesman for the memorial.

Crouse was killed when 22-year-old Ross Truett Ashley walked up to him on Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus and fatally shot him. Ashley was found a short time later, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The annual event at the National Law Enforcement Memorial is the symbolic beginning of the engraving process for the names of the fallen men and women in blue.

In all, 362 names will be added, Groeninger says.

“All of the names will continue the engraving process for a number of weeks,” Groeninger said.

The formal dedication ceremony will take place in May.

WTOP’s Kathy Stewart contributed to this report. Follow WTOP on Twitter.

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