Category: Fallen Officers

Appointed – January 1, 1948

End of Watch – May 11, 1959

Sergeant William Herkal was shot and killed while responding to a robbery at the Red Owl grocery store on East Lake Street.

The manager had hit the alarm button and another employee in the back called the police. Two detectives arrived first and were able to grab the suspects. However, one of the men broke free and exchanged shots with a detective. As the man ran out of the door he encountered Sergeant Herkal, who was just arriving. He shot Sergeant Herkal three times with a .38 caliber revolver before being shot and wounded by another officer with a riot gun. The other suspect was taken into custody inside the store.

Sergeant Herkal’s killer was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison on June 10, 1959. The other suspect was convicted of third degree murder.

Sergeant Herkal’s funeral services were held on Thursday, May 14, 1959 at the Church of St Helena.  A service was also held at the McDevitt Hauge Chapel.  Sergeant Herkal had served four years in the Navy before joining the Minneapolis Police Department and so was buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.  

Sergeant Herbal was 35 years old at the time of his death.  He was survived by his wife, Marie; their two sons, Steven, 8, and Charles, 7; their two daughters Judy, 12, and Susan, 2; his mother; and his two sisters. 

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.

Appointed – August 29, 1912

End of Watch – June 24, 1919

On the evening of Monday, June 23, Motorcycle Officer George A Woessner was responding to an accident at 16th Street and Chicago Avenue where a hit-and-run driver had struck and killed a streetcar conductor as he stepped off his streetcar and then driven through the crowd of passengers of disembarking passengers. 

Officer Woessner was at 22nd Avenue South and Lake Street when he swerved to miss a car driving the wrong way.  He hit the curb and was thrown into a tree.  He was killed instantly. 

Officer Woessner was 36 years old and had been with the department for seven years. Before joining the motorcycle patrol, he was a patrol officer at the North Side Station. 

Officer Woessner was survived by his wife.  They lived at 1804 Park Avenue.  His funeral was held at Snell’s Undertaking at 20th and Bryant Avenues North. He was buried at LaCrosse, Wisconsin on June 26, 1919.

Appointed – February 18, 1943

End of Watch – June 6, 1945

Officer Marvin A Wicklund joined the Minneapolis Police Department on February 18, 1943.  Because he was married with three children, and because being a police officer was considered a vital occupation, Officer Wicklund was unsuccessful in his first three attempts to enlist.  On August 1, 1944, he was finally accepted by the Marines.

Officer Wicklund was assigned to Company H, Third Battalion, 29th Marines, 6th Division.  He took part in the invasion of Okinawa.  In action against Japanese forces on June 6, 1945, he was killed by a sniper.  Officer Wicklund was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, Victory Medal World War II and a Presidential Unit Citation with ribbon and star for “extraordinary heroism in action.”

Officer Wicklund was 30 years old at the time of his death.  He lived at 3923 Upton Avenue North in Minneapolis with his wife, Mina, and their children.  He was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl.  

Officer Wicklund was the only member of the Minneapolis Police Department ever to be killed while on military duty.