St. Louis County Police Officer Blake Snyder

GODFREY – A beloved member of the region – St. Louis County Police Officer Blake Snyder – fell in the line of duty in an early morning shooting.

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Blake, the son of Dick and Peggy Snyder, of Godfrey, was shot and killed after responding to an early morning disturbance call in Green Park, Mo. Authorities said Snyder, 33, was shot point-blank after encouraging a man accused of causing the disturbance.

A second officer fired at the suspect, hitting him several times, police said. The suspect is in critical, but stable condition. The officer who shot the suspect was not injured. Snyder saw the suspect in the car and demanded that he show his hands. The suspect then shot Snyder once with a pistol, which was found at the scene, police said. 

Snyder, a husband with a 2-year-old son, was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead a short time later.

Tammy Iskarous, executive director of Riverbend Family Ministries in Wood River, said the organization was heartbroken over the loss of Blake Snyder.

“Blake joined the board of Riverbend Family Ministries in 2008,” she said. “When asked why he wanted to join our board his response was, ‘to help facilitate what God is doing within this community, especially the changing of the lives of young people.’  Blake lived this model every day! He brought energy, talent and a desire to serve in whatever capacity to make this community better.”

Iskarous said the organization was sad when Blake rotated off the board, but they knew that his acceptance to the Police Academy was exactly where he was supposed to be.

(Photo provided by Tammy Iskarous)“His love for his family and friends was contagious and his commitment to the community he served was inspirational,” she said. “We as a board pray for his wife, son, family and friends. His light will be missed.

"We pray that his desire for young people to learn a better way will be a torch picked up by those whose lives he has changed and left behind.”

His father, Dick Snyder, worked in the administrative ranks at Lewis and Clark Community College for several years before retirement. He is also an active photographer and has worked for a long period of time with the Village of Godfrey.

His brother, Dr. Adam Snyder, is the owner of Riverbend Pediatric Dentistry.

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Godfrey Mayor Mike McCormick said he knows Blake’s parents very, very well.

“When I was first elected trustee, Blake was already working here in the Village of Godfrey summer program,” McCormick said. “Everybody here just loved him. He was a very dedicated worker.”

McCormick said within the Village of Godfrey's office, today it is “a sad building.”

“The village and the whole community is sad over what happened,” he said. “Dick Snyder was very instrumental in a lot of things with the village and Blake was just loved by everybody he worked with here.”

Jim Lewis has been director of maintenance for the Village of Godfrey for 15 years. He once was Blake’s supervisor in Godfrey when he worked during the summer months.

“I think being a police officer is what he always wanted to do,” he said. “He went into graphic design initially, but his real love was to be a police man and he did it.”

Lewis said he was so glad to see Blake succeed in law enforcement and it made him extremely proud.

“He worked for us in the late spring and summer to make spending money and help pay his way through college,” Lewis said. “He was the best of the best. He had everything going for him and was really smart. He was a good athlete and played soccer and Lewis and Clark Community College. He had a great sense of humor and was also a religious man.”

When Blake Snyder applied for the Police Academy, Lewis was one of his references.

“I tried to give him the best reference I could,” Lewis said. “He always wanted to be the best at everything he did. He got a job out here at age 16 and worked through college. He tried to make as much money as he could to help pay for his college.”

Jim Lewis stayed in contact with Dick Snyder and said they always had the one key common interest – Blake – and Blake’s well being.

“I still saw him off and on,” Lewis said. “His mom and dad live on Taylor. Sometimes, he would ride a bicycle on the weekend here for recreation. I would see him out and we would talk a little bit.

“Blake had his whole life ahead of him. This is such a shame.”

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