Wis. School Shooting Mars Incoming N.D. Police Chief's Final Days

GRAND FORKS, ND — Grand Forks' incoming police chief was on leave from his current agency, the Madison Police Department, at the time of a Monday, Dec. 16, fatal school shooting, but he still feels its impact.

"It was very difficult," Capt. Jason Freedman told the Herald. "This was one of the most significant events to happen in the city in my 27-year career. To have to watch as my colleagues and friends had to deal with this tragedy, and the danger and the trauma of it — yeah, it's been difficult."

Freedman is on leave, paying out the remainder of his vacation time before he transitions to the Grand Forks Police Department. Though not currently working, he is still technically an MPD employee until Jan. 3.

Monday's shooting at Abundant Life Christian School left the 15-year-old suspect, another student and a teacher dead, and two students critically injured, according to Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 17, reporting from Reuters. In the aftermath, Freedman reached out to check in with some of his colleagues.

It's been particularly tough, he said, because he knows the SWAT and peer support teams played significant roles in the response to the shooting, and he has been heavily involved in both teams.

At some point, every law enforcement officer transitions, he said, whether to another position, another agency or out of the field altogether. Though he knows the agency is well-equipped to handle crises such as this, his roots there run deep.

"It's a terrible thing," Freedman said. "I wish I had been there for my people, and for our community, and been able to play a more active role, but I also ... know they're doing what needs to be done, and taking care of themselves and our community here."

Prior to this shooting, the most recent, similar incident he recalled was in the late '90s, when a man held a number of preschoolers hostage inside a day care. The man was killed by police without any harm coming to the children, Freedman said.

"This is the first time we've had an active killer in one of our schools," he said. "We've been preparing for it for a long time, but it's very jarring. For anybody who worked it, I'm going to guess that's going to be (one of their top) most significant, challenging days."

Freedman will join the GFPD officially on Jan. 27 but will move in a couple weeks prior, returning briefly to Wisconsin to help his son move back to college.

In the meantime, he's been preparing for his move, making phone calls, writing emails and reviewing the GFPD's directives manual, which outlines all of its policies and procedures. He's also already visited Grand Forks and made an appearance at the GFPD's annual awards ceremony on Friday, Dec. 13.

Freedman had already been planning to come to Grand Forks during a weekend in December, so when someone from GFPD reached out to Freedman to let him know the awards ceremony was coming up, he said it was easy to make the time to be part of the event.

It worked out really well, he said — he was able to meet a bunch of people, including patrol officers, command staff, retired Chief Mark Nelson, Lt. Andrew Stein and Interim Chief Dwight Love. On Saturday, Dec. 14, Dep. Chiefs Bill Macki and Brett Johnson also gave him a tour of the department, which Freedman said went great.

"It felt like a good first in-person opportunity just to chat with some people a little bit and to start putting some faces to names," he said. "Every little interaction, I think, will make the transition easier."

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