In Cold Spring cop killing, 911 transcripts released
The Stearns County Sheriff's Office has released redacted transcripts of two 911 calls placed on the night Cold Spring police officer Tom Decker was killed.
The transcripts, released Tuesday, provide a brief firsthand account of the scene outside Winner's Sports Bar and Grill the night of Nov. 29. Portions of the transcripts and the names of the callers have been redacted, and the transcripts do not mention Decker by name. Decker's murder is still under investigation.
According to the transcripts, a 911 dispatcher asks a caller around 10:47 p.m, "Where is he?"
"Um," the unidentified caller responds.
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"Ma'am?" the dispatcher asks.
"Cold Spring, Minnesota," the caller says.
"Yep, I know where Winner's Bar is, is he inside the bar?" the dispatcher responds.
"No, he's out back," the caller says.
"Behind the bar?" the dispatcher asks.
"Um, in the, yes sir," the caller says.
The 911 transcripts correspond with interviews with those who were in the bar that night.
A caller in the transcript mentions seeing and hearing a loud, black van leaving town.
The dispatcher asks if there's a suspect in the van or if the van is linked to the shooting, but no one in the transcripts confirms that.
"I do not know," a caller says.
Law enforcement officials first talked publicly about the van at a press conference in St. Paul on Monday, more than two weeks after Decker was shot and killed.
Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall said law enforcement couldn't discuss the van earlier because it was under investigation.
"As the public can see, this has been part of the investigation since the beginning," Kendall said. "This is the point in time where it's time to act beyond what the active investigation is working with, so this can become part of the discussion."
FBI spokesman Kyle Loven, reached Tuesday afternoon, declined to say whether the FBI dive team searching the Sauk River, just two blocks from where Officer Decker was killed, found any evidence.
A $100,000 reward has been offered for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of Decker's killer.
