After Minnesota deputy's on-duty killing, law enforcement officials say the hazards are greater
Funeral preparations are underway for Joshua Owen, the sheriff’s deputy from western Minnesota killed Saturday while trying to arrest a domestic assault suspect.
Two of Owen’s colleagues were also shot, but did not suffer serious injuries. They were among seven Minnesota law enforcement officers shot in the line of duty so far this year amid a sharp increase in assaults on police.
Pope County Sheriff’s Deputy Joshua Owen had turned 44 years old on Saturday, the same day that he, a fellow deputy, and a police officer from Starbuck responded to a domestic assault call in Cyrus, Minnesota, a small town east of Morris.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has released only limited information about the shooting. But the agency said the suspect who, like the wounded officers, has yet to be identified, opened fire after being told he was under arrest. The suspect was killed in an exchange of gunfire.
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Jim Mortenson, executive director of Law Enforcement Labor Services, the union that represents the officers involved in the incident, said that while domestic assault calls are a routine part of police work, they are risky for officers.
“You literally are confronted by people [on] their worst day. You can have some very heated exchanges going on,” Mortenson said. “And it can be anything from a verbal confrontation to a physical confrontation or it could be something where weapons are involved.”
Owen was the fourth Minnesota law enforcement officer fatally shot in the line of duty in the last decade according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. While it remains rare for police to be killed on the job, BCA statistics indicate that the profession is becoming increasingly dangerous.
In 2016, 350 officers were assaulted in 296 reported incidents in Minnesota. Assailants allegedly used hands, fists, and feet in the vast majority of the attacks that year, but 14 involved firearms.
In 2021, the last year for which figures are available, more than 1,112 Minnesota officers were assaulted. Forty of the alleged assailants used firearms.
Mortenson said when he was a rookie cop three decades ago, calls involving guns were rare, but now they’re routine. He said society has become increasingly violent, and among some people, there’s an increasing willingness to attack police.
“It’s almost like people feel they have a right to confront and sometimes assault, and with this case with Pope County, it went to something that no law enforcement agency ever wants to deal with, and that’s the death of an officer.”
Mendota Heights Police Chief Kelly McCarthy joined the department two years after officer Scott Patrick was fatally shot during a 2014 traffic stop. And she was with the Lino Lakes Department in 2005 when a suspect fleeing in a vehicle struck and killed officer Shawn Silvera.
McCarthy, who also leads Minnesota’s Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, said the violent death of a colleague in the line of duty is something that no officer can prepare for.
“Grief is one of those things that’s universally felt but uniquely dealt with,” McCarthy said. “And so trying to navigate a professional environment when something hurts so personally is definitely hard. I was very lucky and had leadership at Lino Lakes that really cared about us and our mental state.”
McCarthy said officers are acutely aware of the danger they face, but their families often put it out of their minds until there’s a tragedy. She added the danger has only increased as firearms have become easier to obtain.
“At some point, we have to decide what we as a society are willing to tolerate in gun violence and access to firearms. I thought we would do something after Sandy Hook, I thought we would do something after cops were killed in Dallas. I just keep thinking that something will happen, but it never really materializes.”
Minnesota police organizations are collecting donations for Deputy Owen’s wife and son through the Law Enforcement Labor Services Benevolent Fund and the Fraternal Order of Police.
Visitation is set for Friday 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Minnewaska Area High School. Owen’s funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday.