BALDWIN, Wis. — St. Croix County Sheriff’s Deputy Katie Leising, 29, was shot and killed on Saturday night while responding to a report of a potential drunk driver in a ditch.
According to the Department of Justice, after arriving on scene, a field sobriety test was performed on the suspect, Jeremiah D. Johnson, 34.
“Johnson was evasive to Deputy Leising’s requests and after approximately eight minutes of dialogue, Johnson turned toward Deputy Leising, drew a handgun and shot her,” said the DOJ.
Through body camera footage, the DOJ witnessed Leising discharge three rounds and miss the suspect, who then fled into a nearby wooded area.
A couple near the scene started performing life-saving measures on Leising. She was later transported to a nearby hospital where she died.
The suspect was found dead later that night in the woods just outside of Glenwood City from what law enforcement believes was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
On Sunday, community members and first responders from St. Croix County gathered along the streets in Baldwin as Leising’s body made its way from the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s office in Minnesota to the O’Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson.
Crystal Hesselink-Gaustad has lived in Wisconsin her entire life and while she did not know Leising, she stopped by the memorial outside the Hudson Police Department to show her support.
“Just a few weeks ago I was in Cameron passing through when they had the funeral there and it was very emotional and I was listening to the scanner last night when it went through that an officer was down,” said Hesselink-Gaustad.
Hesselink-Gaustad attended the funeral for Barron County fallen officers Emily Breidenbach and Hunter Scheel, who lost their lives in the line of duty in April.
She said losing a beloved community member in a small community like hers is never easy.
“St. Croix County is small. We are growing, but we are small and it is hard to see an officer lost,” said Hesselink-Gaustad.
Hesselink-Gaustad is the mother of a three-year-old child who always said he wanted to be a cop when he grew up, but due to recent incidents like this one, he has changed his mind.
“Just this last year he said ‘mom, I am too scared and I don’t want to be a cop no more’ and so it really hurts,” said Hesselink-Gaustad.
Leising joined the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office in 2022 and before that, she served for two years with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office in South Dakota.
A procession and funeral arrangements for Leising are expected to be held in coming days.