Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis police award Medal of Valor to officers for water rescue
Minneapolis police officers awarded medal of valor for water rescue
Two Minneapolis police officers were awarded the MPD Medal of Valor on Tuesday for saving a young boy’s life last year.
Sgt. Jeremy Depies and Officer Ashley Bergersen were both working on Sunday, Nov. 26 when a call came in that a young child had fallen through the ice.
“I didn’t think it was real at first,” said Bergersen, who was working as a field training officer that day.
She rushed to Bryn Mawr Meadows Park, where Sgt. Depies was already running towards the water. He’d been doing a ride-along, showing a civilian city parks, when he got the call.
4-year-old boy in critical condition a day after water rescue at Minneapolis park
“I was in the right place at the right time and just arrived on scene at the moment I needed to be there,” he said.
Depies told us he arrived to the scene within 30 seconds, where a little girl told him her brother was in the water.
“I went down to the ice, ran down there and I saw his snow pants sticking up out of the water,” he said. “I knew he was in there longer than he’d ever be able to hold his breath.”
Depies ran into the water with Bergersen right behind him.
“I told myself to feel light as a feather on that ice because I could see that the ice was not thick at all, might have been an inch, if that,” she said. “I just ran as fast and as far as I could to the hole to get Eli.”
Bergersen added, “[I thought] we gotta get him out now or he’s not going to survive.”
Instinct took over for both of them.
“This isn’t anything that either one of us has been trained to do,” said Depies. “In that moment, it didn’t matter, I had to figure out a way to get Eli out of the water.”
Bergersen carried the little boy out of the water and handed him off to her partner, who raced him to the pavement. They started CPR and called for an ambulance.
Bergersen went with the four-year-old to the hospital, where she met his mother.
“The first thing I did when I saw her was I knelt down next to her and gave her a hug,” she said.
After speaking with the child’s mother, she determined he’d been in the water for about six minutes before they arrived.
The four-year-old survived and met his heroes in the weeks that followed.
“Eli’s a fun-loving kid and super great to spend time with,” said Depies
“Amazing to see him walking and talking now, it’s surreal,” said Bergersen. “I am glad that I was working that day, that I was able to respond to that specific call and that I had enough courage to jump into that pond. It was an instinct. I just thought if that was my son, I sure hope someone would go in and save them.”
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The scene of the shooting on Thomas Avenue North. (FOX 9)
A man was fatally shot after an argument early Tuesday morning in Minneapolis.
Fatal shooting on Thomas Avenue North
What we know:
According to Minneapolis police, around 2:30 a.m., officers responded to the 1600 block of Thomas Avenue North on reports of a shooting inside a home.
At the scene, officers found a man with several gunshot wounds. The man was taken to the hospital, where he later died, police said.
Authorities say that an argument led to gunfire, and the suspect fled the scene before police arrived.
A 17-year-old was arrested in connection to the shooting, and police say they are investigating “connections” between the teen arrested and other violent crimes in Minneapolis this year.
What they’re saying:
“Another family has forever been impacted by senseless violence,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. “Settling disputes with a firearm is completely unacceptable, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure justice in this case. Every available tool in the juvenile justice system must be used to protect young people who pose a danger to themselves as well as the community.”
What we don’t know:
Police did not specify the gender of the 17-year-old. And the other crimes the teen could be connected to were not specified.
The man who was fatally shot has not been identified.
The Source: A press release from the Minneapolis Police Department.
A 41-year-old was found guilty in the murders of Christopher Martell Washington, Louis Mitchell Lemons, Jr., and Samantha Jo Moss at a homeless encampment in Minneapolis, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
According to a criminal complaint, Earl Bennett rode an e-bike to a tent in the encampment in October 2024, asked to see one of the victims inside and began shooting shortly after being allowed inside. Surveillance video showed him leaving the tent and riding away on his e-bike.
Washington and Lemons were declared dead at the scene, and Moss died at the hospital a week later.
Woman dies nearly a week after triple shooting at Minneapolis encampment; suspect charged
Bennett is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 16 in this case, the attorney’s office said.
Other cases
Bennett is also a defendant in two other cases.
He was shot by law enforcement after pointing a gun at officers in St. Paul days after the murders.
Officers later learned Bennett had shot and critically injured a man earlier in the evening at a sober living home on the 3500 block of Columbus Avenue South.
The gun Bennett pointed at officers in St. Paul matched the casings found at both the encampment and sober living home shootings.
SPPD releases bodycam of officers shooting and injuring man charged in encampment triple homicide | Man seriously injured in Minneapolis shooting, suspect not in custody
These cases both remain open.
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