By TJ
Photo: Winona County Sheriff’s Office
WINONA, Minn. (KWNO)-As part of National Law Enforcement Week, Winona County authorities took time Wednesday to honor fallen officers who served the area.
Members of the Winona Police Department, Winona County Sheriff’s Office, and other local officials gathered to lay flowers on the memorials of Investigator John Schneider, Corporal Ted Foss, and Officer Matthew Hamilton. Last year’s ceremony was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Investigator Schneider, who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance in 1980, is the subject of an episode of the Officer Down Memorial Podcast.
The gunfire that killed Matthew Pavelka
Campbell s suspects were two men later identified as Ramon Arranda, and David Garcia who were in a black Cadillac Escalade near the Ramada Inn, just outside the Burbank Airport. Campbell noticed there was no license plate and since the area was suspicious for drug dealings, he requested the driver to step out of the vehicle. Campbell had already requested backup, and Pavelka was on the scene, approaching the vehicle by the time the driver, Arranda, got out and opened fire. He shot Campbell in the torso and side of the head, knocking the officer down before Pavelka engaged him. The passenger, Garcia, then stepped out and shot Pavelka repeatedly, after Arranda was fatally wounded.
"No matter what kind of situation we were in, I knew we'd be OK because he was right there with me," Officer Michael Strom said of his partner of almost eight years, Jesse Madsen.