PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Hearts were heavy Friday in the neighborhood where fallen Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Zachary Fink lived in Port St. Lucie.
"Yeah, everybody knows you're in the line of duty, but that doesn't mean that it is easy when it actually happens," neighbor Karen McCall said.
McCall said she has lived in the neighborhood for 50 years, and Fink and his fiancée moved in within the last two years.
"Zachary was always waving at everyone saying hi. He introduced himself when he moved in to everyone in the neighborhood," McCall said. "He was so young and so full of life, that's incredibly unfair."
She said even with his odd schedule, the two would find a way to say hello to each other daily.
"How are you feeling right now knowing that that was him?" WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked.
"My heart hurts because I know that he won't be there, but because I know that's a life snuffed out that's so young that is way before it's time," McCall said.
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The trooper lost his life Friday morning after he collided with a semi on I-95 during pursuit, FHP said.
Other neighbors like Doris Tirado described Fink as private but friendly and once helped her repair her gutters.
Tirado said she worked in law enforcement when she lived in New York and moved in just months before Fink did.
"Every time I wouldn't see the car I would always pray, you know, God protect him, be with him ... have your grace over him," Tirado said.
She said that she had been up since 4 a.m. on Friday when her alarm alerted her of FHP troopers outside her neighbor's house.
"So, I just stood there by the window, and I got this feeling in my gut, you know like, 'Oh, my God, no,'" Tirado said.
She said the troopers were there to deliver the news of the accident to Fink's fiancée.
"If by some chance the family is watching this tonight, do you have a message for them?" Lopez asked.
"I'm just praying that he's in a better place, and I know he's going to be watching over his family always," Tirado said