Law enforcement families grieve loss of St. Croix Co. Deputy Kaitie Leising
GLENWOOD CITY, Wis. – Family members of law enforcement officers are grieving the loss of St. Croix County Deputy Kaitie Leising.
The 29-year-old deputy was shot just outside of Glenwood City, Wisconsin on Saturday night and later died at a hospital.
She was responding to a report of a possible drunk driver who was stuck in a ditch. According to investigators, the suspect -- 34-year-old Jeremiah Johnson -- did not respond to Leising's requests for a field sobriety test. After some time, he pulled out a handgun and shot her and she returned fire. Johnson was later found dead in nearby woods from a gunshot wound.
Tire tracks show where Deputy Leising was shot, and just a few feet away is a growing memorial to honor her life and service.
UPDATE: Local law enforcement agencies offer condolences for Deputy Kaitie Leising, killed in line of duty
"It was concerning given that we're a small community here, and you don't really hear of that in our area," said Glenwood City resident Laurie Matoska.
On Saturday evening, Matoska and her family were coming back from dinner when they ran into a road closure on Highway 128. They were told to turn around because there was an active shooter in the area. It was later she learned that Deputy Liesing was the victim.
"Concerning for law enforcement. You know, how many are we going to lose because they're afraid of their jobs, and they're not going to go home to their families?" Matoska said.
It's the same question Melissa Olson has been asking.
"It's just sad and it needs to stop," Olson said.
Olson and a friend took time to leave flowers at the memorial. She has two daughters who are sheriff's deputies. One of them worked with Deputy Leising, and responded to the scene on Saturday night.
"My daughter was telling me how solid Kaitie was. She was a very solid officer. A very good person. Very sweet," Olson said.
Leising had worked as a deputy in Pennington County, South Dakota before joining St. Croix County last year.
"Things like this happen from bad people. Bad people. And I feel that they do not take responsibility for their own actions and they take somebody else," Olson said.
Olson said she and the community are willing to do whatever it takes to support law enforcement. And she says she expects the same from elected leaders. In the meantime, she'll be trying not to worry the next time her daughters are on patrol.
"Every time they go on their shift and I talk to them, you know, 'I love you. Stay safe and I'll talk to you later.' And they're very good about checking in with me, and that eases your mind," Olson said.
Leising is the third law enforcement officer to be killed in Wisconsin in the span of a few weeks. Officers Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel were shot and killed during a traffic stop in April.
And last month, Deputy Josh Owen was shot and killed in western Minnesota while responding to a domestic call. He died on his 44th birthday.
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