MADISON (WKOW) -- First responders across the state are mourning the death of St. Croix County Sheriff's Deputy, Kaitie Leising.
Wisconsin's Department of Justice says Leising responded to a call about a possible drunk driver in a ditch in Glenwood City Saturday night. Leising asked 34-year-old Jeremiah Johnson to complete a field sobriety test and he shot and killed her.
Glenwood City Mayor and Wisconsin State Patrol Sergeant, Robert Unruh, was one of the officers to respond to the call of a fellow officer down a little after 6 o'clock Saturday night. He shared what that experience was like with our Minneapolis affiliate, KSTP-TV.
"I was working in my garage, and my lieutenant advised me of the situation. And I said, 'Say no more,'" Unruh said. "Got dressed, got my gear, and I live less a mile from where this went down. And I just responded and assisted as I could."
The Wisconsin Department of Justice says good Samaritans who pulled over to help Johnson before he shot Leising began lifesaving measures until she was brought to a nearby hospital, where she died.
The Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police says Leising was the fourth officer killed in the line of duty this year and the third in less than a month -- an upsetting pattern along the Minnesota and Wisconsin border.
"I know some people in the St. Croix County and Hudson law enforcement," Hudson resident Krista Borst said. "It's close to home and it's scary and my heart breaks. You're listening to make sure that they're okay and everybody's okay. Then when you heard that happened last night it was just heartbreaking."
Sunday, patrol cars from Minnesota and Wisconsin departments joined in the almost 40-mile procession for Leising from the Medical Examiner's office in Minnesota to a funeral home in Baldwin, about 50 miles east of Eau Claire.
Dozens of people came to show support, watching over the procession from the I-94 overpasses. Condolences and prayers have also come in from across Wisconsin.
St. Croix County Sheriff, Scott Knudson, said in a statement that law enforcement officers will stand at Leising's side until funeral services are complete.
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