Cold Spring Police Officer Shot and Killed

Cold Spring police officer Tom Decker has been shot and killed. Decker and another officer were doing a routine welfare check at about 11:00 p.m. last (Thursday) night in downtown Cold Spring, near Winner's Bar.  At the time the officer encountered a person in the alley behind the residence. Decker was then shot and killed.

As a number of agencies responded, the Stearns/Benton SERT team entered an apartment above Winner's Bar and arrested a male suspect.

The Stearns County Sheriff's Office and the BCA are investigating.  The name of the man arrested has not been released.

A native of the Cold Spring area and ROCORI graduate, Officer Decker graduated from the Alexandria Technical College in 2002, receiving an A.A.S. Degree in Law Enforcement. For the next few years, Officer Decker's law enforcement career brought him to the City of Isle and then Watkins. He moved to the Kimball Police Department in '04 and was the Kimball School Resource Officer. In March of 2006, Decker took on duties for the cities of Cold Spring and Richmond.

The last Stearns County officer killed in the line of duty was St. Joseph officer Brian Klinefelter, who was shot in 1996 while attempting to arrest three robbery suspects.