BARRON COUNTY, Wis. — Heads were low and hearts were heavy in Barron County Monday evening as hundreds of community members and first responders gathered on the street in front of the Rausch and Steel Funeral Home.
Hours earlier, first responders had escorted the bodies of fallen police officers, Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel, to a medical examiner’s office in Minnesota after the two were shot and killed in the line of duty on Saturday.
The procession on Monday evening brought their bodies back home to Barron County.
Area police held a press conference Monday afternoon for the first time since the officers’ deaths. They addressed what Breidenbach meant to the Chetek Police Department and what Scheel meant to his fellow officers in the Village of Cameron.
“In addition to changing the lives of their family and friends forever, this event has touched me, my department, local law enforcement and law enforcement around the world; it has also made a direct impact on our community,” said Adam Steffen, the Village of Cameron police chief.
The population of Cameron is 1,878 and the population of Chetek is 2,161 — two small communities where everyone knows everyone.
Lynn Davidson, a Barron County resident, said she did not know either of the police officers who died serving the community, but she still showed up to the procession to show support for her local law enforcement.
“If a police officer can not go up to a car that they pulled over without getting shot, that’s unreal, that’s not right,” said Davidson. “It makes all of the other officers wonder, ‘am I going to be next?’”
During the press conference on Monday, District Attorney Brian Wright said the investigation should take 30 days to get to his office. He said it will then take another 15 days before they can tell the public exactly what happened the night of the shooting.
“I can tell you these are two outstanding officers and they deserve nothing more than this report that is going to be coming from the DA’s office being done in an expedited manner,” said Wright.
Many people have reached out to the families of Scheel and Breidenbach, asking how they can show support financially.
Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said at this time, there are no GoFundMe pages set up and that families are not taking donations, but they will be in the near future.
“You can check the Chetek and Cameron Facebook pages and we will share them on the Barron County Facebook page...” said Fitzgerald. “These are the only official sites you should give funds to.”
A community vigil is set to be held on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Village of Cameron.