Here is how 2023's law enforcement line-of-duty deaths compare with previous year's
MINNEAPOLIS -- The fatal shooting of a St. Croix County sheriff's deputy has added to an already disquieting toll of Wisconsin officers killed in the line of duty this year.
Deputy Kaitie Leising, 29, was responding to a call about a potential drunken driver in a ditch Saturday evening when "gunfire was exchanged" and she was killed. The shooting occurred in the township of Glenwood, about an hour east of the Twin Cities, around 6:15 p.m.
UPDATE: Local law enforcement agencies offer condolences for Deputy Kaitie Leising, killed in line of duty
The Wisconsin Department of Justice said Leising encountered a potentially impaired driver, 34-year-old Jeremiah Johnson, in a ditch, along with a car that had stopped to help him. Leising asked Johnson to take field sobriety tests, and after evading her request for eight minutes, Johnson shot her, the DOJ said. He then died by suicide, investigators say.
Last month, officers Hunter Scheel of Cameron and Emily Breidenbach of Chetek were killed in a shootout after serving a warrant at a traffic stop.
A week after that, Pope County, Minnesota Sheriff's Deputy Joshua Owen was killed in a shootout. Another deputy and a Starbuck police officer were also shot, but survived.
READ MORE: Widow of slain Pope Co. Deputy Josh Owen: "Losing Josh will never go away"
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, there have been four officers killed by gunfire in Wisconsin so far in 2023. The fourth -- in addition to Scheel, Breidenbach, and now Leising -- was Milwaukee police officer Peter Jerving, who was killed Feb. 7 while attempting to arrest a robbery suspect. Prior to 2023, the last officer killed by gunfire was in 2019.
The website lists no officers killed in 2022 in Minnesota; prior to the death of Owen, the last officer fatally shot in the line of duty was Red Lake Nation officer Ryan Andrew Bialke, who was killed July 27, 2021.
Nationwide, the database lists 17 officers killed by gunfire in 2023 so far, which is down 15% from the year prior. Overall line-of-duty deaths number 36 this year so far, which is a reduction of 72% from the prior year.
The line-of-duty deaths tracked include vehicular crashes, fire, falls, and various medical-related deaths, including from COVID-19 as well as the effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The database also indicates that Leising and Breidenbach were two of three female officers who were killed in the line of duty in 2023 thus far.
