5/6/10 - A Sad Day in Minnesota

Today was a sad day here in Minnesota. Last weekend the Maplewood police department...well, the state as a whole, suffered a great loss. Police Sgt. Bergeron was fatally shot when he was ambushed Saturday while responding to a car jacking. Following that attack, the suspect was also fatally shot when he attacked another police officer pursuing him. Hearing the news of this whole event just sent chills down my spine. You think of authority figures as being untouchable, almost immortal in a way. You know, logically, it is a very dangerous world they live in, police, firefighters, etc., but you don't really think things like this would ever happen. Especially when responding to a crime like this...a car jacking...JUST a car jacking. To take somebody elses life, for any reason, is unimaginable to me, but over a car jacking?

Sgt. Bergeron's funeral was broadcast live over the Internet, but I was at work and was not able to watch it. But, the funeral was held at the Cathedral, which is right up the road from my work, right outside my window in fact, so I did watch much of the outdoor ceremonies going on from the window. Following the funeral, the processional went right by my building, lead by hundreds of squad cars...all with their lights flashing proudly and a few with their sirens blaring with respect. I went outside with a few coworkers to watch this amazing sight, and the streets were filled with citizens, just standing there, paying their respects to this fallen officer. The sight brought many tears to my eyes, and it was something I will never forget.

The remainder of the day was just like any other...work, then home. It was my Friday, so I'm really looking forward to my day off tomorrow! We'll see what kind of trouble us girls can get into all day! It's supposed to rain all day...so probably not much...

Here are a couple pictures I snapped before the funeral began.