• Minnesota Police Officer Shot, Killed
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[quote]COLD SPRING - The Cold Spring Police Chief has identified the officer shot and killed late Thursday as Tom Decker. Chief Phil Jones struggled to retain his composure as he described the six-year department veteran as "our department jokester. Everyone who met him liked him." Jones says Decker was the department's firearms and use-of-force instructor. He was with another officer responding to reports of a suicidal man. His chief says Decker was married with four young children. "We're gonna miss him," Jones said, fighting back tears. "The community and all of law enforcement will miss Tom Decker." Decker's mother Rosella says Tom grew up as one of eight children on a dairy farm south of Cold Spring. She says he surprised them when he announced he wanted to become a police officer. "He wanted to help people," Rosella Decker told privateofficer.com, explaining her son's interest in law enforcement. "It was just something he told us about when he graduated high school." Rosella Decker said she would either see her son in person or talk to him on the phone nearly every day. "He called just a few hours before he was killed," she told privateofficer.com. "He said, 'I'll stop over a little later tonight. Oh, I've gotta go.' " That was last time she would hear his voice. Decker's younger brother describes him as bright and animated, someone who loved to travel and be outdoors. Twenty-seven-year-old Joe Decker of Cold Spring says Tom Decker was shy as a youngster but "the life of the party" as an adult. Joe Decker said Friday his brother enjoyed fishing and going pheasant hunting. He also says his family assumed Tom Decker would be a doctor or pharmacist because he had so much medical knowledge, and they were surprised when he decided to become a police officer. He understandably tells the Associated Press that the family is still in shock over Friday's events. The Rev. Cletus Connors of St. Boniface Catholic Church in Cold Spring has known Decker and his family for years. "He was a nice young person. Always sincere and the type of guy who always wanted to do what was right. He would give everybody the benefit of the doubt," Connor said. Decker had been a police officer for Cold Spring and Richmond since 2006. He is Rocori High School graduate. "I don't know anyone who would command more respect in the town," Connors said. The officer's father is John Decker, a farmer in St. Nicholas, Connors said. Late Friday morning Governor Mark Dayton released a statement on Decker's tragic death. It reads: "Cold Springs Police Officer Tom Decker was senselessly murdered last night, while acting in the line of duty. On behalf of the people of Minnesota, I extend my deepest sympathies to his family and to the Cold Springs Police Department for their tragic loss of an outstanding officer, father, and friend. Officer Decker died, while protecting his fellow citizens. For his heroism, we will be forever grateful." Decker previously served as a police officer in Isle, Watkins and Kimball according to the Cold Spring Police Department website. When he came to to take a position in Cold Spring Decker told his chief it was his "dream job."[/quote] [quote]COLD SPRING — A Cold Spring police officer shot and killed late Thursday night leaves behind a wife of about a year and four children from a previous marriage. Tom Decker, 31, was identified as the victim, according to Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner, in what law enforcement officials called an “ambush” behind a bar with apartments on the second floor on Main Street. Decker, who had been a police officer for Cold Spring and Richmond since 2006, had been married twice. He was first married from 2003 to 2008 to Becky Decker, formerly Becky Wollschlager, who is the mother of his four children. They include 8- and 7-year-old daughters, Kelly and Jade, and 6- and 5-year-old sons, Justin and Devon. “They meant everything to him,” Decker's oldest brother, Eddie, said this morning. Tom Decker was remarried within the past year, according to Roxie Knowles, twin sister of Decker’s first wife. His second wife’s name is Alicia, she said. Becky Decker, 28, learned of the death of her former husband when law enforcement showed up at 1 a.m. today at her Sartell residence. “The kids are just devastated and Becky’s obviously having a real hard time with it,” Knowles said. “When three officers show up at your door in the middle of the night, it’s never good news. She called me and I came over at 2 a.m. and have been here ever since. The worst part was how she had to break the news to her kids when they woke up that their daddy was gone. Now, I’m hearing the girls say all they want for Christmas is their daddy back and I don’t know what to tell them.” Decker was responding to a report of a possible suicide, Sanner said. He was ambushed and shot twice in the parking lot at Winner’s Bar at 200 Main St., according to investigators. Ryan Michael Larson was arrested and is in Stearns County Jail. The Rev. Cletus Connors of St. Boniface Catholic Church in Cold Spring said he met with the family of the officer Thursday night and he has known Decker for years. “He was a nice young person. Always sincere and the type of guy who always wanted to do what was right. He would give everybody the benefit of the doubt,” Connor said. Decker is a 2000 Rocori High School graduate. “I don’t know anyone who would command more respect in the town,” Connors said. His father is John Decker, a retired farmer in St. Nicholas, Connors said. Decker was the second-youngest of six brothers and two sisters. He loved being a police officer, said Eddie Decker. "That was his dream. He really loved doing it," Eddie Decker said from his parents' home this morning. Decker served as a police officer in Isle, Watkins and Kimball, according to the police department’s Web site. He is a 2002 graduate of Alexandria Technical and Community College. “He was a chief’s dream,” Cold Spring Police Chief Phil Jones said at a press conference this morning in Cold Spring. He had six letters of commendation. Gov. Mark Dayton issued a statement that said "On behalf of the people of Minnesota, I extend my deepest sympathies to his family and to the Cold Spring Police Department for their tragic loss of an outstanding officer, father, and friend." The shooting and the subsequent hunt for the suspect shut down much of downtown Cold Spring late Thursday. Ryan Michael Larson, 34, of Cold Spring was arrested and is in Stearns County Jail. Larson is a second-year machine tool student at St. Cloud Technical & Community College, according to Heidi Everett, a spokeswoman for St. Cloud Technical & Community College. He is a former employee of Winner’s Bar. Officers responded to the scene about 11 p.m. Thursday. A police perimeter was set up around much of downtown during the search for the suspect, and a helicopter hovered overhead. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension lab is processing the scene. Multiple police agencies were called to help with the investigation. The last Stearns County officer who was killed in the line of duty was St. Joseph officer Brian Klinefelter in 1996. Klinefelter was shot while attempting to arrest three suspects who had robbed a liquor store. [/quote] [url=http://www.kare11.com/news/article/1000176/391/Cold-Spring-police-officer-killed-on-duty-identified]Source 1[/url] [url=http://www.sctimes.com/article/20121130/NEWS01/311300012/Stearns-County-Cold-Spring-police-officer-shot-killed-near-bar?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CUmbrella&gcheck=1&nclick_check=1]Source 2[/url] [img]http://cmsimg.sctimes.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=DR&Date=20121130&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=311300012&Ref=V1&MaxW=300&Border=0&Cold-Spring-officer-responding-potential-suicide-when-he-ambushed[/img] [img]http://www.kare11.com/images/640/360/2/assetpool/images/121130070936_shooting.jpg[/img] [img]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/154437_501454659886550_895751805_n.png[/img] [img]http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/12262_501454756553207_1301038327_n.png[/img] [img]http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/559777_501454583219891_1476950559_n.png[/img] (thats the ambulance that the officers are following) [img]http://cmsimg.sctimes.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Site=DR&Date=20121130&Category=GALLERIES02&ArtNo=311300013&Ref=PH&Item=4&Maxw=620&Maxh=465&q=60[/img] [img]http://cmsimg.sctimes.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Site=DR&Date=20121130&Category=GALLERIES02&ArtNo=311300013&Ref=PH&Item=5&Maxw=620&Maxh=465&q=60[/img] [img]http://cmsimg.sctimes.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Site=DR&Date=20121130&Category=GALLERIES02&ArtNo=311300013&Ref=PH&Item=7&Maxw=620&Maxh=465&q=60[/img] [img]http://cmsimg.sctimes.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Site=DR&Date=20121130&Category=GALLERIES02&ArtNo=311300013&Ref=PH&Item=8&Maxw=620&Maxh=465&q=60[/img]
i am disappoint :(
Sounds like he was a great guy. RIP
Sounds like gang initiation. Kill a cop if you want in, call in a fake suicide, ambush the responder. Fuckface scum of the earth
Some actor attempted suicide (with a pistol, and failed) and everyone was upset because the cops came in mildly aggressively. This is why. Until the situation's under control they don't know what to truly expect.
Nothing is more depressing than having to tell your kids their dad is not coming home for christmas.
For some reason it bugs me that there are only about 2 lines that talk about what actually happened that night. The rest is just talking about how nice he was, there's so little information about the event itself.
mods should ban ninja for ratespamming like a little shit especially with an article like this
[QUOTE=Pocket Medic;38660528]For some reason it bugs me that there are only about 2 lines that talk about what actually happened that night. The rest is just talking about how nice he was, there's so little information about the event itself.[/QUOTE] Its because it was brief. He responded to a check the welfare call Got ambushed behind a bar Shot twice, in head. (a lot of information is being withheld too because its still an active investigation)
[QUOTE=Death_God;38660556]mods should ban ninja for ratespamming like a little shit especially with an article like this[/QUOTE] [del]mods should ban death_god for backseat moderating[/del] Anyway, I feel sorry for the guy but aren't there more than like 100 cop killings a year? is something special about this case?
So that's why my dad saw all of the police cars. Damn.
More info on the actual incident here: [quote=ODMP]Police Officer Tom Decker was shot and killed as he and his partner performed a welfare check on a man whose family believed was suicidal. Officers had attempted to make contact with the subject at his apartment but were not successful. They returned to the scene approximately two hours later. As Officer Decker exited his patrol car in an alley behind the apartment he was ambushed by the subject and shot twice. He was fatally wounded despite wearing his vest. The subject was arrested following the incident.[/quote] [url]http://www.odmp.org/officer/21550-police-officer-tom-decker[/url]
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