Transcripts

RICHARD SPROUSE: Law enforcement officials say three men entered the liquor store wearing face masks and wielding a gun demanding cash. They tied up the clerk in a backroom cooler and stole less than $50. She untied the ropes and told authorities the robbers were heading toward St. Cloud. Stearns County Sheriff Jim Kostreba says Officer Klinefelter pulled the vehicle over 12 minutes later.

JIM KOSTREBA: At 9:14 PM, the St Joseph officer saw a vehicle of this description on County Road 75 in Saint Joseph and radioed in that the vehicle had no license plate visible. At 9:16 PM, a Stearns County Deputy responding to back up the Saint Joseph officer found him laying on County Road 75. The apparent victim of a gunshot.

RICHARD SPROUSE: Authorities say if Klinefelter had waited two minutes, another officer would have assisted him at the scene. The robbers fled the scene and abandoned their vehicle on St Cloud's West Side. 26-year-old Brian Ederhoff and 19-year-old Kenneth Roering were later found hiding under the deck of a home. The third, 26-year-old Thomas Kantor, broke into two homes, grabbed a hostage, shoved him in the trunk and stole his car. At 9:39 PM, the two wound up in Sauk Rapids. Benton County Sheriff Frank Wippler says a deputy spotted the vehicle.

FRANK WIPPLER: He immediately stopped behind the vehicle approximately 30 feet. The suspect exited his vehicle, and approached her with a handgun to his head. He continued to approach her squad car. Deputy Wiggin continued to move around the car to keep the car's protection, ordered the suspect to drop the gun. He refused. And when he got his vantage point, he pointed the gun at Deputy Wiggin, at which time she fired one shot.

RICHARD SPROUSE: The shot killed Kantor. Stearns County Sheriff Jim Kostreba says Klinefelter was a highly respected officer with a bright future in law enforcement.

JIM KOSTREBA: I think for some of us that were involved in it right from the beginning last night, you think it might be a dream because it just didn't seem real the way the violence escalated and continued.

RICHARD SPROUSE: Saint Joseph Police Chief Brad Lindgren had just nominated Klinefelter as Minnesota Police Officer of the Year. Saint Joseph mayor Bud Reber says a lot of people are having a hard time coping with the loss. The community of 4,000 was traumatized six years ago when Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped by a masked gunman. Reber says this latest crime will have a big impact on the city. He says Klinefelter had been a member of the force for 2 and 1/2 years, was married, and had a three-month-old daughter.

BUD REBER: You get the feeling it's a small community. It's a peaceful, quiet little community. And with the Jacob Wetterling situation, it's several years ago. People haven't gotten over that.

And now, you add to that. And you're taking a life of a young police officer. It's definitely going to have an awful impact on the city. The feeling of security, I think, is not going to be here anymore.

RICHARD SPROUSE: Reber says Klinefelter is the first police officer killed in Saint Joseph. He says counseling will be provided to city employees to deal with the death. Main street business owners are also trying to deal with the shooting. Doug Danielson, Vice President at the First State Bank of St. Joseph, says residents are shocked by the incident.

DOUG DANIELSON: You just don't think something like that's going to happen in our small town of Saint Joseph. I think sometimes, we feel like we're maybe isolated, or insulated, from some of these incidents. And I think from the people I've talked to this morning, people are still in a state of shock. Non-belief.

RICHARD SPROUSE: Danielson says the bank has set up a memorial fund for Klinefelter's family. Reporting from Collegeville, I'm Rich Sprouse. Minnesota Public Radio News.