Sister Officer killed in Minneapolis last night.  Prayers please!!!

Sully
Chief Instructor
www.defensive-edge.net
www.dpmsinc.com

Story from www.startribune.com

Published Aug 2, 2002 OFFI03

Minneapolis police were trying to regroup today after the fatal shooting of officer Melissa Schmidt on Thursday night while answering a call about a woman with a gun at a public housing complex. Martha Donald, 60, who lived in the complex, today was identified as being killed in the shootout.

A second officer who was with Schmidt has been placed on three-day administrative leave, which is routine after an officer is involved in a shooting.

Schmidt, 35, had been with the police department for at least six years and had recently been assigned to the public housing unit. Her gun was in her hand when she was found, police said.

"She was one of the brave men and women who put their lives on the line every day," Chief Robert Olson said today.

Schmidt was the first Minneapolis police officer killed while on duty since officer Jerry Haaf, who was shot in a restaurant in 1992.

Olson and other officials gave this account of what happened Thursday night:

Someone called police about 7 p.m. with concerns about a woman who had a gun in a car, and then officers spotted the car in the parking lot of the Horn Towers at W. 31st St. and Blaisdell Av. S.

After finding that the car was locked, Schmidt and officer Tammy Friestleben, 37, walked into a lobby at Horn Towers and talked with a woman, who said she needed to go to the bathroom.

Preliminary indications were that officers had confirmed that the woman was the one reported to have had the gun.

It's unclear what actions the officers took before taking her to the community bathroom, but the shootout erupted about 7:40 p.m.

Schmidt was shot in the abdomen below her bullet-resistant vest and died later. Friestleben wasn't wounded.

Department spokeswoman Cyndi Barrington said police didn't yet know who had shot whom. Olson said Friestleben had fired her gun, but police said they didn't know whether the 60-year-old woman or Schmidt fired their weapons.

Two other officers have died since then, including one who died of wounds suffered in a shooting before Haaf was shot.

Olson said it is too early to tell who fired first in the bathroom. But police said that a handgun that didn't belong to either officer was found there.

"You think about this every day on the job and hope it never happens," said Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis. "It's a big dose of reality."

Schmidt underwent surgery at Hennepin County Medical Center. The unnamed 60-year-old woman also died there. Schmidt's parents came to the hospital from Dresser, Wis.

Olson and Rybak were with Schmidt's parents, Steve and Carol Schmidt, when they learned about the death at 10:30 p.m. Olson said Schmidt was in the U.S. Marines before joining the police department in 1996.

"Tonight, an officer was shot and died in the line of duty," Olson said. His voice started to falter by the end of the news conference, which he ended without answering any questions.

Schmidt, who had worked for the department's crime prevention unit, was a very good officer who was dedicated to working in public housing, said Fifth Precinct Inspector Lucy Gerold.

Funeral arrangements for Schmidt are pending. Olson said today that the service likely would be in Dresser, Wis.

Godspeed Officer Schmidt.