Fridley Mourns Cold Spring Police Officer

Fridley police officers will be mourning with the Cold Spring Police Department on Wednesday.

The funeral for Cold Spring Officer Thomas "Tommy" Decker will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. John's Abbey and University Church in Collegeville.

Decker was shot and killed while on duty on Nov. 29.

Fridley Role
Fridley Police Lt. Mike Monsrud said by email Tuesday he didn't have an exact how many but that "several" Fridley officers would be attending the funeral for  Decker on Wednesday.

One Fridley officer who will be there is Ginny Foxx. She is a volunteer with the  Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association (LEMA) honor guard.

"She will be participating in the funeral preparation and details all day long," Monsrud said.

The LEMA honor guard also includes officers from nearby cities' police departments, including Columbia Heights, Blaine, Brooklyn Center, and Coon Rapids (which has two officers volunteering).

Fridley Director of Public Safety Don Abbott is a founding member of LEMA.

LEMA Commander Kevin Torgerson told Fridley Patch in August that on average Minnesota experiences about 1.5 line-of-duty deaths per year. The LEMA honor guard provides a firing party in the case of a line-of-duty funeral, Torgerson said.

Every year, Anoka County honors law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty, including Deputy Ernest Zettergren, who was killed 49 years ago in Fridley. (Columbia Heights Police Officer Curtis Ramsdell was killed in the line of duty in 1977.)

In August, the Fridley Police Department mourned Officer Barry Pankonin, who died in an off-duty motorcycle crash. An off-duty motorcycle crash also took the life of Fridley firefighter Scott Allard, who died last April.

Monsrud said he did not believe Fridley police had anyone assist in the widespread law-enforcement response to Decker's killing last Thursday.

Suspect Released
On Tuesday, Gov. Mark Dayton ordered all flags at half-staff Wednesday. (See his proclamation by clicking on the PDF thumbnail.)

Also on Tuesday, the Star Tribune reported that Stearns County prosecutors released Ryan Michael Larson, the suspect in Decker's death.

Larson told the St. Cloud Times that he was sleeping when Decker was killed.

“Basically, they have no evidence whatsoever that points in my direction,” Larson told the newspaper. 

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