Highway Patrol Trooper James Scott Burns

On April 29, 2008, Highway Patrol Trooper James Scott Burns died at approximately 7:57 p.m. near the intersection of FM 729 and FM 1969. Trooper James Scott Burns, 39, was shot and killed by a driver he had stopped near the intersection of FM 729 and FM 1969, northeast of Lake of the Pines. At approximately 7:57 pm, Marion County dispatchers received a call over the trooper's radio from a citizen stating that the trooper had been shot. Trooper Burns joined DPS on March 1, 2003. After graduation from the DPS Recruit School, he was stationed in Linden until that office was closed. He then transferred to the Atlanta Highway Patrol office on April 1, 2004. He transferred to Jefferson on September 1, 2006, and was stationed there when he died. Before joining the DPS, Trooper Burns had worked for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He was born in Longview and attended college at Tyler Junior College, Texarkana College and Ouachita Baptist University. Trooper Burns is survived by his wife and five-month-old child. Trooper Burns was the 83rd DPS trooper to die in the line of duty.