Month: January 2020

End of Watch July 1, 1995

Officer Moen was a long-time member of the Minneapolis Police Department having served for 25 years. He was known as a valiant man who was always keen to help other officers.

In 1994, Officer Moen received the Medal of Honor for his courageous conduct in a shootout.

On July 1, 1995, Officer Moen suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after he subdued a suspect in a domestic disturbance. Officer Moen collapsed when he attempted to stop one of the men from attacking another officer.

On the day of Officer Moen’s funeral, hundreds of police officers marched down Minnehaha Avenue South to the McDivitt Hauge Funeral Home to honor his memory. His partner, Officer Kim Muellner, spoke of his generosity and giving nature in her eulogy.

Officer Moen was survived by his wife, Tammy, his son, Robert, and his mother, Gladys.

Appointed – March 25, 1996

End of Watch – August 1, 2002

Officer Melissa Schmidt was shot and killed after she and her partner responded to a call shortly after 7:00 pm reporting a woman with a gun at the Horn Towers public housing complex.

Officer Schmidt questioned and searched the suspect who said that she needed to go to the bathroom.  Officer Schmidt escorted the woman to the public restroom in the lobby of the building. While in the restroom, the suspect produced a handgun she had concealed within her body and opened fire, striking Officer Schmidt in the abdomen below her vest. Officer Schmidt was able to return fire.  She fatally wounded the suspect and held her position until other officers arrived on the scene.

Officer Schmidt died after surgery at Hennepin County Medical Center later that night.  

She was buried in her hometown of Bloomer, WI.  More than 800 police officers and emergency workers from across America attended.  More than 400 of them travelled by squad car and motorcycle from Minneapolis to pay their respects.

Officer Schmidt was a high school basketball star in Bloomer and worked as an EMT there after high school.  She served with the United States Marine Corps in Iwakuni, Japan, in the U.S. Foreign Interests Section in Havana, Cuba, as a Marine Security Guard, and as an officer in the Bloomer Police Department.

Officer Schmidt served with the Minneapolis Police Department for six years and six months and was assigned to the Public Housing Unit.  Before joining the Public Housing Unit, Officer Schmidt worked for two years with deaf and hearing-impaired people to help them understand how to protect themselves.

Officer Schmidt is survived by her parents, Steve and Carole Schmidt of Bloomer, and an older brother, Chris.

Photograph courtesy of ODMP

Appointed – April 14, 1904
End of Watch – May 31, 1916

Officer Nels C Anderson was dispatched to 2004-24th Avenue South on May 27, 1916, to respond to a domestic dispute in which a husband, armed with a pistol, had threatened his wife and children and then pursued his wife from their home to a drugstore at 2401 Franklin Avenue where he shot and killed her. 

The husband then ran back from the drugstore to his home and barricaded himself inside. When Officer Anderson arrived at the home, he ordered the husband to surrender and the husband fired two shots striking Officer Anderson.  Officer Anderson was taken to City Hospital where he died four days later.

Officer Anderson was survived by his wife and three children: Eleanor, 19; George, 17; and Elsie, 14.  Mrs. Anderson was the first widow to receive benefits from the Minneapolis Police Mutual Association. 

Officer Anderson was 50 years old and had been with the department since 1904.  At the time of his death, he was a motorcycle patrolman and was going to soon be promoted to sergeant. 

Officer Anderson’s funeral was held Saturday, June 7, at St. Paul’s Swedish Lutheran Church and he was buried at Lakewood Cemetery.

End of Watch – May 27, 1906

On Sunday May 27, 1906, A group of children had gathered at the intersection of Stevens Avenue and 24th Street where they were watching a downed electrical wire arc on the street. 

Officer Charles Channels had the children leave the area and then attempted to swing the wire over a fence until to secure the scene until an electrician could be called to repair the wire. As he was doing so, the wire swung back towards him and came in contact with his left hand.  Officer Channels was killed instantly.

Officer Channels was 38 years old and had served with the Minneapolis Police Department for five years and was assigned to the Fifth Precinct.  He was survived by his wife.

Appointed – June 16, 1914
End of Watch – June 14, 1937

Officer Georgianna Sharrot was struck by a car as she crossed the street at Lyndale and Franklin Avenues on January 31, 1937.  She died from her injuries four and 1/2 months later on June 14, 1937 at the age of 67.

Officer Sharrot was born in New York City on September 21, 1869.  She moved to Minneapolis in 1908 and took a supervisor position in the nursery at the Pillsbury Settlement House.  In 1911, she moved to the countryside near the South Dakota border where she served as a house matron at a boy’s agricultural school.  Officer Sharrot moved back to Minneapolis in 1912 and worked for the Juvenile Protective League.  

Upon recommendation of both the Juvenile Protective and the Women’s Welfare Leagues she was appointed by the Mayor to the Minneapolis Police Department on June 16, 1914.  She was designated a “street mother” and was assigned duty as an advisor to children and young persons up to the age of 17. 

Officer Sharrot was very well known not only in Minneapolis but also around the world having been a Secretary of the International Policewomen’s Association and the President of its Minnesota and Northwest Division.

Officer Sharrott lived at 5309 Columbus Avenue South.  She was buried at Lakewood Cemetery on June 16, 1937.  She was a widow and was survived by her grown son and daughter and their families. 

Officer Sharrot was the fourth woman law enforcement officer to have been killed in the line of duty in the United States.   

Source – True Heroines: Police Women Killed in the Line of Duty Throughout the United States by William Wilbanks

Photograph courtesy of www.odmp.org

Appointed – January 1, 1904
End of Watch – February 2, 1928

Officer Albert Anderson was mortally injured just four blocks from his own home while trying to save the lives of others imperiled by a runaway horse. 

The horse, drawing an ice wagon, had been left unattended by the driver at 24th Avenue and Fillmore Street Northeast. 

Suddenly, the horse took off running. 

When Officer Anderson attempted to stop the horse he was knocked down and the horse stepped on him puncturing his abdomen. 

Officer Anderson died later that day at St. Barnabas hospital. 

Officer Anderson was 53 years old. He had served on the Minneapolis Police Department for 24 years. He was a widower and lived at 1922 Fillmore Street Northeast. 

Officer Anderson was interred at Hillside Cemetery on February 4, 1928.

Appointed – May 1, 1905

End of Watch – February 1, 1931

Officer Harry McGraw was shot and killed on February 1, 1931 during a robbery at the Loring Park Pharmacy at 1500 Hennepin Avenue.  Officer McGraw had been assigned on hazardous duty to the store after a series of robberies in the area.  A suspect entered the pharmacy, pulled his gun and ordered the clerk to hand over the money. Officer McGraw emerged from the back he and the suspect exchanged shots at a close range and both were fatally wounded.

Officer McGraw was 49 years old. He had been with the Minneapolis Police Department for 26 years and was due to retire on May 1. 

Officer McGraw and his wife lived at 3812 2nd Avenue South.  They had one daughter who died in infancy.

Funeral services for Officer McGraw were held on Wednesday, February 4, 1931 at the Church of the Incarnation.  His fellow officers formed a guard of honor at the services. Officer McGraw’s body was taken to his boyhood home of Greenleaf near Litchfield for burial.

Officer McGraw’s death increased pressure on the city to provide bulletproof vests for officers assigned to hazardous duty.